


Angel : First Flight

by Kintsukuroi



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Altered the timeline to fit - Deal with it., Discovery, Insecurity, M/M, Mutant Biology, New Student, Slow Build, angel - Freeform, iceman - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:11:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1917585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kintsukuroi/pseuds/Kintsukuroi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warren arrives at the school. Everyone around him conspires to get him in the air, however reluctant he may be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

Warren felt no small amount of apprehension. He stood before the Xavier School, waiting for its namesake to come out. He wore his heaviest coat and couldn't be more thankful. Above him, from the second, third, and fourth stories, a small crowd pressed their noses to the windows trying to get a good look at the new kid. He bit his lip and looked away. He considered waving, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He noticed he was older than many of them. He'd been from bording school to boarding school. He had researched this one... As far as he was aware, every single student was a mutant. 

He remembered calling that first time. Trying to find some way to imply the mutant question without giving it away in case he was wrong. Charles' voice had been warm and assuring He was used the way people would skirt the subject. 

Finally the front door opened and Xavier came out. He smiled. "Warren, so good to finally meet you." He said. "I do hate to do this, but there is bit of an emergency I must attend to at a nearby prison. This is your room mate, he will show you around and get you acquainted." Xavier shook his hands and Xavier and three people left. Xavier turned his chair around before the vehicle. "I'd be delighted if you'd join me for breakfast in the morning." 

Warren relaxed. "That's fine." 

He watched them go before Bobby spoke up. "Hey, why don't I show you to our room? Everyone's excited to meet you." Warren watched as Bobby went straight for the car. He grabbed some of Warren's bags and Warren quickly grabbed the rest. 

"I can get those." he said. Bobby skipped a step head. 

"It's cool. This way." he lead them right up the stairs to the fourth floor. Big place. Not the biggest. Somehow, it seemed the students weren't flooding them. He had been worried he'd be stopped at every floor. The hungry, eager looks through the window had been misleading, it seemed. 

"This is the older teens wing. Everyone in this part of the building is sixteen to twenty. The other areas have younger kids. Some of the adults live on the lower levels to keep the kids in check, you know..." 

Bobby pushed a door open. The room was large, with two beds. He'd half expected a dormatory. Sixteen guys stuffed into rows of beds was what he was most used to. He'd had years of practice sleeping in his harnesses. He was both thrilled and anxious about not needing them anymore. 

"That bed's mine. Here's yours." He put Warren's things on the bed. "Also half the closet and the dresser here." he slapped one. 

There was a pause. Warren took a moment to open his bags. Everything was already folded, except a few things hanging in the suit bag. It unpacked in minutes. A few spare things were tucked into the gaps between clothes.

"So what can you do?" Bobby asked. Fair question. Probably not an unusual one in a place like this. 

"Nothing." Warren said.

"That's the worst lie I've ever heard. It's something big. They remodeled the entire bathroom after they said you were coming. Here look." Warren blushed as he was drug by one arm to their bathroom. "They put a gigantic bath in here... That's the whole reason you're with me, there was a storage closet there. I figured you're a shape shifter or something. Like Odo on Star Trek." 

Warren's eyebrows went together. They'd put a lot of thought into this, but apparently hadn't told Bobby. "No. It's nothing like that... I don't want to talk about it." 

"Oh." Bobby felt like an ass. "Well I freeze things. And I'm fluent in Spanish." He put his hands together a moment and then opened them. A small block of ice in the form of "Si" was in his palm. 

Warren smiled a bit and picked it up out of his hands. Then a thought occurred to him "What's it made of?" He asked suspiciously, but without putting it down. 

Bobby chuckled. "Just water. From the air and stuff. It's clean." 

"Sorry." 

"Nope, everyone asks that. Now I spent the summers hanging out on the lawn and... cooling people's drinks. Last year I made a huge ice slip and slide..." He paused to laugh a bit. "They made us stop when one of the students got frostbite on his nipple. Anyway, if you don't want to tell me, that's cool but they're only gonna let you keep it a secret for a little bit. Professor X's a nice guy but he doesn't play around. Two words: Emotional. Blackmail. You won't even know it's happening." 

Warren didn't respond. He just went back to the main room.

"So... meals are three times a day. Let me show you the kitchen... Pretty much eat anything you want unless someone's name's on it. Everyone here has different... needs. Like some of the students burn through their food so fast... It's all pretty relaxed." They walked down the stairs again. Warren shrugged under his heavy coat. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep it on forever. And the belts were starting to dig into his chest. He'd been wearing this since he boarded the plane thirty hours ago. He barely ducked in time as a student ran past him on the ceiling.

"Whoa, new student!" He called, turning and pointing. "David, come on!" someone yelled for him. 

"Sorry, the really young ones are like that sometimes." Bobby said. "Ah! The kitchen! This is seriously my favorite place." He walked to the fridge and pulled out some ice cream. 

"This is the main one, there is a second one where meals are made. They employ slave labor to keep the meals coming." He said. Warren skeptically at him. "Thirteen to fifteen year old students have to take a cooking class. They make all the meals. Thirteens make breakfast, Fourteens- lunch and fifteens- dinner. I loved it, I made all the iced stuff. Iced tea. Iced coffee. Ice cream. I made this." He tilted the container towards him. 

How was the cold and ice made? "Sounds like you found your niche." He wasn't about to go rifling through the cabinets now, but he noticed Bobby had grabbed a second spoon. He took it and had a bite. "Is that watermelon?" He asked. "Watermelon ice cream?" 

"Yup. Don't look like that. I told you. I just make the cold. The ice is just water." Warren nodded and had another bite. There was a crash at the door that made him spin around. Four younger girls were standing there. They giggled and looked at each other before one vanished and three ran off. "Everyone really wants to meet you." 

"You said there's dinner?" 

"Not for three hours." 

"They'll meet me then. I need a bath. I got stuck in a bad lay-over and... well.." He was stiff, sore, and sticky from wearing the coat for so long.

"Of course." He put the lid on the ice cream and put it away. 

They went back upstairs. "Towels are kept in this closet." Bobby said, opening a door about midway down the hall. "I usually keep a couple in the room because I forget." He tossed a towel at Warren. 

"Thanks. You don't have to go with me. I can handle this myself." 

Bobby smiled. It was brilliant. "You made a joke! Oh yeah! I was starting to worry." Bobby held his hands up and backed away. "I'll come get you before dinner." With that he ran off.

Warren grabbed four more towels before retreating to the room. He went into the bathroom and found it blissfully lockable. Click. 

The coat hit the ground in a moment. Then four belts. He had compressed his wings to his back as firmly as he could tolerate for the plane ride. The joints cracked audibly as they were released from their confines. While he felt bad about the remodeled bathroom, believing he could have at least paid for it himself, he couldn't deny that this would feel good. He hadn't been properly clean since he'd left for boarding schools. And even there it was quick showers in the middle of the night. 

He filled the tub with hot water and climbed in. He soaked for a while, just floating. He didn't float very deep. His wings were buoyant or something. He wasn't entirely sure. He could even spread them a little in this tub. Where had they found this? Was it a bariatric tub? Was it a spa tub? It was huge. Finally he sat up. He pulled one wing around so he could see as much of it as possible and started to fix the feathers. It wasn't something he often find the time to do in a dedicated way. The last couple years he had pulled out ones that were painful or broken, but anything beyond that was out of the picture. Now he could sit in warm water and do it right. He would have to go to town and buy some oil to put on them later. The feathers were broken, misaligned, and dry from years of just not having enough time for them. He mumbled to himself as he worked. He decided that the best course of action was to pull out all the bad ones and let new ones grow in. Realistically, he realized he would be walking around exposed and it'd happen sooner than he wanted. "This must be the most high-maintenance mutation ever." he muttered, taking his frustration out on the task at hand.

He realized there was quite a pile forming of broken feathers and that he could no longer reach the entire back of his wing. Two problems. Had he grown so much in the last six years? Seven years if he counted that one school... Yeah, made sense. He did what he could reach and went back to soaking until a knock at the door startled him. 

"Uh... Warren. Dinner's in 30 minutes..." 

"Yeah, sorry." he pulled the plug out of the bath. "My blow dryer... Bobby?" He called. No response. He dried his body with the towels. He squeezed each wing out as best he could, trying to get the water out of them. They were very heavy like this. "Bobby?" he didn't see Bobby when he poked his head out.

He waited another moment "Bobby?" he asked again. No answer. He wrapped his towel around his waist and went to his dresser. 

"Finally!" he heard and then the bathroom door slammed. Bobby had run past without even looking. He got his dryer and knocked "Bobby, I need back in there." 

Silence, then flushing, then the sink. 

"Sorry, I've had to go for an hour and I have this thing about othe-" Bobby stepped out and stopped. "My god...." 

Warren didn't see the point in freaking out. Maybe if he didn't freak out, Bobby wouldn't either. Calm. 

"Those are-" Bobby looked hard at him

"Wings. Yeah." Warren said. It took all his concentration and willpower to keep his look level. 

"No. I was gonna say huge. Where were you keeping them?" 

"The coat... You didn't think it was weird I was wearing a huge, heavy trench coat?"

"Have you seen where I live? I don't think anything's weird." Bobby said, moving to go around his back. Warren wasn't having that. 

"I need to dry off." he said, holding the dryer up. 

"Right... You're gonna let me see those later, right?" he asked. He couldn't hide his curiosity. 

"I don't know, maybe. If you keep it quiet with the others." He said. That sounded like a good deal.

Bobby grinned "Deal." And let him pass. 

Drying took almost too long but he got done. He chose some new clothes, not caring that Bobby was on the bed staring at him while listening to his music. Cat was out of the bag there. 

"So do you wear that coat all the time?" Bobby asked. 

"No. I can wear normal clothes. I probably will for dinner... I just didn't want to on the plane."

"How did no one notice on the plane?" 

"Semi-private jet... My family rents time on it, you know, instead of buying one. It broke down so we had a lay-over while the company provided a new one. On the plus side, the fees were all refunded." he shrugged, his wings shifting with the movement. 

Bobby's mouth was hanging open. Warren cringed. He pledged to keep them still until Bobby found his voice again "So you're loaded?" Bobby asked. 

"Kinda." He was starting to feel irritable. Bobby asked a lot of questions and none of them were what he expected to be asked. At any giving moment, something else was coming out of his mouth. It was putting him on edge. If he just said what was expected, Warren could answer.

He stormed off to the bathroom, belts in one hand, clothes in the other. He belted the bottoms of his wings to his thighs and the rest to his chest and stomach. His clothes were baggy to hide any outline. It had always worked in the past. Not comfortable, but by all appearances normal. 

He stepped out, Bobby was waiting by the door. "You know, dinner started like, eight minutes ago..." 

Down the stairs. To the left. Left again. Towards the loud chatter of a load of kids all in one room. They made it to dinner. There were two long tables. "Adults and teens eat here, kids have their own room... We all take turns watching them. I have to be in there next week starting Sunday." Bobby shuddered. 

Chatter stopped and they looked at them. Fortunately, Warren had moved schools a lot. "Hello, everybody. I'm Warren. I'm sure you know that I'm new. I hope to have a chance to get to know each of you." It was pretty standard. He didn't really want to know each of them. He just didn't want their first impression of him to be bad. 

Chatter started back up again as he and Bobby took a seat. Bobby helped serve him some food from the plates. "You have to try this. It's Ororo's secret recipe. It's amazing. And really not so secret, she teaches it to every year. But she makes it best. You're lucky you got here mid-year. Usually the beginning of the school year is when meals are just plain awful. Burnt mashed potatoes were a staple of last fall." Warren was quiet. He was spoken to quite a bit, but usually a nod would suffice. If anyone asked him about his powers, Bobby immediately gave what was apparently the "off limits" signal.. He appreciated it, even if Bobby lacked any subtlety. 

Dinner was a long affair, but it was good. The students all started to go their separate ways. 

"There's two hours study time now. Everyone has homework." Bobby said. "We either have to be in our rooms or in the libraries." They returned to their room. 

Bobby got his homework out and sat down. Warren was at a loss. He wanted a nap, more than anything. He didn't have any comfortable sleep clothes, he realized. No reason to wear the belts. He looked at Bobby, then he bed. And then Bobby. He was completely engrossed in his work and music. He got his pants off as quickly as he could, then shirt... and finally belts. He slid into his bed in his boxers. He laid on his stomach and pulled the blanket up under his wings. He'd never been so tired or comfortable in his life. It didn't take much more than the white noise that escaped Bobby's headphones to put him to sleep.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren meets the Professor.

"Wake up. Please wake up." Warren squinted into the desk lamp he was apparently looking directly at. 

"What's wrong?" He was covered in something unidentified but heavy; his head was fuzzy with sleep. 

"I'm so sorry." Bobby said. 

"For what?" Warren shifted. 

"I kinda froze the room... I thought you were dead. You're so cold" Warren shifted so he could sit up. Bobby's hands were on his face. The room was full of people. Their balcony door was open, letting a warm breeze in. The redhead from earlier, Jean, was beside the bed popping some chemical hot packs. "I swear to god, I haven't done that since like... last year. This never happens." Seven people were standing there staring at them, an eighth was telling people to get back from the door. 

Warren pulled the blanket up over his shoulders. "I didn't notice. I'm a heavy sleeper. And I don't get cold... Ever." 

Jean took his temperature and did a few tests before giving him the all clear. She commented that she'd like to know how he didn't freeze but left with a "I'd like to see you tomorrow if you have any free time." He nodded.

Bobby sat on the food of Warren's bed. "You're really ok?" He asked. 

"Yeah. I sleep like a log, seriously. I was... am exhausted. Traveling kills." Bobby laughed uncertainly. "So... how many people saw me?" 

"Well by the time I called people and they came running, I'd already thrown all my blankets on you. So only whoever was in here when you sat up?" He said. "I'm sorry about that too."

"Don't be. I just want to go back to sleep." Warren chucked, rubbing his face. It was just absurd. It was three in the morning, he realized there was water running down the walls from the melting ice.

"Sorry." 

"It's fine, Bobby. I'm sure I'll make mistakes too. It'll be fine." He wanted to be diplomatic about it. He wanted to go back to sleep. Bobby talked enough for both of them. 

"You did leave feathers in the bath." Warren's mouth dropped open. He'd completely forgotten. "Don't worry, I put them in the trash." Bobby paused "I mean, I hope that's ok." Warren nodded, snapping his jaw shut. 

"It's fine. I meant to find the trash and just forgot." he said. "Looks like we're even." 'Fine' the word was almost a chant at this point. Everything was rapidly boiling down to 'fine.'"

Warren grabbed Bobby's blankets. "You can have these back. I am really fine." 

"Thanks." Bobby brought them back to his bed and settled down. "I'll really try to not do it again anyway. Just in case."

Warren was going to reply, but he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. 

Morning came too fast. It started with Bobby's alarm clock blaring out horrid beeps. Bobby was already dressed, he felt annoyed that the alarm appeared to be for his own benefit.

"Morning." he said. Warren fought to stay asleep but eventually gave in. "Breakfast is in 20 minutes and you're supposed to eat with Prof X." Bobby said. "So... get dressed." Warren stood and stretched. Bobby watched as his wings reached clear across the room without completely unfolding. "What's your wingspan?"

Warren folded them back up and looked at him. "I don't know. I never measured." Bobby stood up and went to move behind him. 

"Just hold still. I'm not going to touch you." He said. Warren tried to not fidget. "Well, I mean. If you look at how they fold... and you are six foot tall or so... You probably have a twenty foot wingspan." he paused.

"You think?" Warren asked. 

"Yeah, I think... something seems wrong." Bobby sounded puzzled. "Do you ever use them? Like... Can you fly?" 

"Not that I know of." He had a feeling this was about to go badly.

"I think this is supposed to sit higher..." Bobby said. Warren felt a hand at the base of each wing and stiffened. "Like this." Bobby lifted upwards gently. Warren pulled away and spun around. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" 

"No. I just... don't like being touched." He shrugged. He played cool; he wasn't about to let Bobby get behind him again, though. "I should get ready for breakfast." He said. He picked up the belts he'd left on the floor the night before and started strapping them around his chest, then his legs. 

"That can't be comfortable." 

Warren bit the inside of his lip. "It's fine." 

"You realize we have three students and one teacher with fur and one little girl has bright green feathers an-"

"I'm fine." Warren said a bit louder, pulling his clothes on. He couldn't stand to hear another word. He just needed Bobby to be quiet.

"No one's goin-"

"Bobby. Stop. I've known you less than a day, I really don't think it's your place." 

Bobby looked at him, let it all sink in, and then nodded vigorously before leaving the room. 

Warren didn't feel bad watching him go. He was nosy. It was annoying. He had every right to be annoyed, even if the other man meant well. 

He realized after he dressed that he had no idea where to go. He was having breakfast with the Professor, but where was that. Fortunately, the answer came to him in the form of mental instructions. He followed them and found himself at a door. He pushed it open when he heard a soft "come in." 

The professor sat behind his desk, which was mostly cleared off. "I hope you don't mind we eat here, I usually eat with the students." he said. His voice was soothing, low. Warren shook his head. Food had already been brought up. He sat down. 

"I am sorry I had to leave yesterday. There is a high security prison I work with and they had a critical system failure. If it had been anything less, I would have stayed." he said with a smile. 

"It's fine. Bobby showed me around." 

"I heard there was an incident early this morning?" He asked.

"Yeah. Bobby and I fought. It happens. New room mates." Warren tried to play it off.

"I hadn't heard about that. I meant the incident where Bobby froze the entire room." 

"Oh. Yeah. I didn't notice until he was shaking me awake. I didn't feel it. I don't get cold." 

"Jean wanted to see you after our breakfast anyway. She usually does a physical for new students all the same, so it will be convenient." Professor Xavier made it clear there was no getting out of it. "She is very discreet." 

"Why did you fight with Bobby?" He asked. "He's usually considered very laid back." 

"He touched my... wings... and he kept talking while I was dressing. It's just an uncomfortable topic." Warren filled his mouth with egg to avoid having to say more. 

"Why is it uncomfortable?" Xavier asked. 

"I've just always kept them-"

"Strapped down? I did want to talk to you about that. I can't abide by that here. I understand the need when you are elsewhere; even so, I am working on other solutions." 

"It doesn't hurt anything. I'm fine with it." 

Xavier shifted a bit. "It's not entirely about you. I'll give you a few days to get used to being here, but I don't let students hide who they are. It sets a very bad example for younger students. They are very perceptive." 

"It's unlikely I'll be around them..." 

"All the older residents here take turns watching the younger students. Whether it's supervising meals or playtime, everyone shares the responsibility. They will know if you're hiding yourself. I am sure you went through a time when you were young when your wings were coming in and you were very confused, perhaps it was even painful. That's probably the time you decided to start hiding them. And you're very adept at it. Many of the students, regardless of their age, are at the same point in their lives and the only way to foster a healthy mindset with them is by example. What are you afraid of?" Xavier asked. That's what Bobby meant by emotional blackmail. Warren felt guilty, and selfish. It definitely was a compelling argument for anyone with a shred of human decency. 

Warren ate some more. He had no intention of answering. At this point, the physical sounded like a little slice of heaven. 

"Warren, you realize that we will do everything in our power to help you reach the full potential of your abilities, don't you?" He looked hard at Warren. "Jean believes you could fly. Would you like to fly, Warren?"

"I don't know how she could possibly think that. She's only seen me once." He said, deflecting. 

"She has a lot of experience. She will be making your schedule and determining who you will be working with." 

"What if I don't want to fly?" Warren said. "What if I am happy like this?" 

"Then you wouldn't be here." Xavier locked eyes with him and wouldn't let go.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren learns about himself and his mutation.

Warren found himself with instruction to find Jean and a heavy mind. Xavier had point after good point and he really had no way to go against what the man said. It all made sense. 

He knocked on the door and heard a sweet voice "Come in." It hadn't sounded so sweet this morning. It had sounded like the screaming of a banshee. He wasn't much of a morning person though. 

He went in. "Warren. Good to see you. I wanted to get your school physical out of the way today and make sure last night didn't have any lingering effects." She picked something blue up. "If you'd get your outerwear off and put this on, we can get started. The door is locked, no one will be coming in." She assured, turning to her table and getting out a clipboard and papers. 

Warren bit his lip and did it. He undid the belts, because he knew a lecture was coming about that, he didn't need her to be looking at how they were worn as well. He didn't stretch this time, worried his joints would crack. That might get her attention. 

"I'm... changed." he said. She turned back around. 

"Have a seat on the table or the stool." he chose the stool. She started with the normal stuff. Temperature, blood pressure, height, weight, chest circumfrence; the list went on. 

"Would you say you are in good health right now?" She asked, looking at the notes she'd taken. 

"Yeah. I feel fine." She looked at him, trying to determine if he was lying. 

"I need to know, honestly. I am using this as your baseline. As you probably know, your body is different. If you honestly feel fine right now, I will use this in the future if you get sick or injured to make decisions about your care." She said. 

"Is something... weird?" he asked.

"Probably not. Your weight is quite low. If you were anyone else, I'd think there was something wrong. Have you had any recent growing spurts?" 

"Yeah. I've grown probably four inches in the last year? Is that bad?"

"No. You're Five-eleven and weigh one hundred and twenty pounds. You're thin. aAside from that you don't appear to be sick. Anyone else would be admitted to a hospital. A lot of men your age don't fill out until some time after they've stopped growing, but even then, you're unusually light. I want to get some x-rays." Jean wrote some notes down. "And your breathing sounds are different than what I would expect. But if you feel fine, it's probably not an issue."

"I do. I feel fine." 

"Alright. Now, I know you're not excited for this part, but I do need to look at your wings." She said.

"What is it with everyone..." He bit his lip. 

"If you'd like, I could set up this mirror so you can see everything I'm doing." She offered. 

"No. It's fine... Just do it." He took a couple of deep breaths as she walked behind him. 

He felt one soft hand at the back of his neck, fingers prodding the skin there, then over his shoulders. She pressed against his sides and then finally the skin between his wings. She stopped there. "This oil here, is that normal for you?" she asked. 

"What oil?" He asked, slightly alarmed and extremely embarrassed. 

"When I press on the skin here, I come away with this." She showed him her hand. She didn't seem too bothered by it, but he'd never been more humiliated in his life.

"I'm so sorry." he said, looking around for paper towels or anything. 

"It's fine, Warren." He was now entirely sure he had heard his name more times today than he had in the last six months. "I think, this is just a guess, this is what would normally go over your feathers. You're probably meant to spread it over them to keep them from drying out and to waterproof them. Which appears to be a problem right now." He felt her fingers on his feathers, shifting them around. 

"Kind of a horrible place for that. I can't reach... I can't reach most of it anymore." He said.

"These things don't happen with a plan." She said "If you need help, I could make myself available-" 

Warren shook his head hard. "I'll figure it out." he said. 

"That's fine." He realized 'fine' was starting to not sound like a word anymore. Everything was 'fine.'

She got a paper towel and wiped her hand off before coming back. She guided the wing open and felt the skin under where they rested. She examined the feathers and felt the joints, being as careful as she could. 

"Alright, almost done. I want some x-rays and blood samples and I'll let you go." she said with a smile. 

She got him on the x-ray machine and took images, repositioning him in between. "Have you hurt your wings recently? I am getting these images for later and I need to know if you have any pain or anywhere that's been hurt."

"No." She got images of each. Then she drew blood and, true to her word, he was let go. 

"I'll be in touch later today about my findings." she said. He changed back into actual clothing and began to wander the halls. He hadn't recieved a class list yet. 

Outside. He'd see how it was outside. He shifted under his clothes. A number of students were outside. Some were playing. Others were doing exercises. There was some kind of martial arts class out in the field. The facilities and property were impressive. He walked around until a bell sounded and everyone started to go in. Lunch? He could skip. He wanted to be outside. He walked until he came to a small lake. This was nice. It was peaceful, quiet. He laid down on his side, staring at the lake. On his back was out of the question right now, but this was nice. The midday sun was warm, the wind cool. He didn't realize how tired he was. 

Hours later he felt a shadow go over him and opened his eyes. He'd been dozing in the sun. Enjoying having a day off from travel and everything else that had been happening in his life. It was Jean. 

"Hello. I didn't wake you, did I?" She asked. She obviously knew she had.

"No. It's fine." Fine again. 

"I wanted to go over your test results with you. this is as good a place as any, if you're ok with it." 

"Sure." He shrugged. 

"Your bloodwork was very good. You are in excellent health." She said. "I found out why your weight is so low." she said "As it turns out, your bones are hollow, like a bird's. Additionally, was thinking about the structures I felt in your back. For the most part, your body is ordinary, but you have almost double the muscle tissue in your torso as another person. If you'd work on it... Really hard... I think you could fly." Just like that. 

He thought about that a second. The thought was appealing. Flying. He could, possibly, fly. It sounded like something everything in his body wanted to do. When Xavier said it, it was just some stupid hypothetical. But Jean had seen all of him, well almost all of him, might as well have seen all of him... She was saying it now. In that moment, it felt like his soul was being ripped from his body, he wanted to fly so bad. But he couldn't. 

"I've come up with a schedule for you." she said, breaking him out of his thought. "You have already taken some high level-classes at your other schools, so I've dedicated two periods a day to working on your abilities. You'll be working with Logan every day and with me every other day. On your day off with me, you have a free period." She handed him his schedule. 

"I've put down and spread the word that you're not to wear the belts anymore." Warren opened his mouth to argue. "We will alter your shirts so you can wear them comfortably, but you will not wear the belts. They have damaged your wings. The skin where you tie them is heavily bruised. Also, I think they should sit higher on your back." She made a downward V with her arms. "Right now they are resting like this, because you have kept them low your entire life. You've had to. I think they should be parallel. The joint here," she touched the top of his wing "should rest around ear-level. Perhaps higher. Definitely higher if they grow much larger. The muscles that hold them up are probably weak. It's like learning to sit up straight. It's a bad habit you'll have to work on." 

"Don't tell Bobby..." He said. He wasn't sure if Bobby was the gloating sort, but he didn't want to hear it. 

"I only share my information with people who need to know." She smiled at him. "Ororo will be by for a couple shirts and to take measurements. She'll have a few done tomorrow."

"I can't." 

"You have to." 

"I know you think so, but I'm not ready to do that." 

"You don't have a choice." She was still smiling, a little, but she was very firm. 

"It's only been a day." 

"We're not saying you have to go out without covering up, only around the grounds here and in the school. We will work on something less damaging... There are other options." She said and stood up. "I have to go, I have some lab work to do. Thanks for taking the time to go over these with me." And she walked off. 

He was angry. He didn't like being told he had to do something. Not something like that. He almost missed being at the other schools. He almost missed no one else knowing. Almost. But not quite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the chapters are of sporadic length. I sort of just cut them off where they naturally end.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day dawned too early. The previous evening had brought dinner, an embarrassing fitting session with a woman who may have been the most finely dressed person he'd seen here, and another hot bath. As promised, three shirts had been altered and left for him when he woke up.. A discreet seam hid a zipper and he could get into and out of the shirt. He felt extremely exposed though. Bobby woke up a bit late, hitting snooze repeatedly, and got a good look at him. "Are you going out like that?" he asked. They hadn't spoken since their fight the previous morning.

Warren turned to get a better look in the mirror "Is it weird?" 

"No. It looks great. Better than the Hunchback of Notre Dame thing you had going on before." 

"It wasn't that bad." 

"It was once I knew about it." 

Warren had successfully avoided thinking about it up until right then."You've been here a while. How is everyone going to... react..." 

"Probably the way I just did. Look, you look amazing. The girls already are fighting over you, this is going to make it worse. There may be blood. They can get vicious over new arrivals." 

Warren grinned. He kind of liked the sound of that. 

"And if you don't want to be touched, just tell them 'hands off.' Lots of people are hands-offy. People'll leave you alone. We all get it." Warren walked towards the door.

"Are you going now? It's almost fifteen minute until breakfast." Bobby asked. 

"I want to be there before the crowd, so I don't have to deal with everyone at once." 

"Give me two seconds and I'll come along." Bobby fished through his drawer and started pulling clothes on. "Done!" they walked quickly to the dining room. The room was completely empty. They sat down near where they had before and waited. Ororo came in first, carrying a tray of something. 

"Oh, Warren. That shirt looks lovely on you." she said. 

"Yeah, thanks for altering it. It's going to be perfect." he said. He meant it, but he didn't. If no one was able to alter it, he wasn't sure if he would have been made to walk shirtless or allowed to continue as he had before. He was anxious. Today would be bad, very bad. Two days. Not enough to know anyone. He would rather be completely naked than sitting as he was just then. And then the first students came in. Four girls.... they were a grade lower than he was, if he remembered.

"Oh my god!" One said as they all came over. "That's the ability you didn't want to talk about?" He didn't say anything as they stood close and tried to get a better look. 

Bobby finally stepped in. "Hey, can you girls back off a bit?" he asked. "You're going to give him a heart attack." 

"I'm fine." Fine.... Again... "This is just new to me." They went to their seats, muttering to one another.

And that was the theme of the morning. By the time a dozen people had seen, everyone had heard. People were flooding in at a much faster rate than was normal. They were all taking. Warren was torn. On one hand, it was hard to feel bad when everyone was praising him. On the other, he would rather be anywhere else in the world. In Africa... In a volcano. On the moon. He could think of a million places.

Xavier made an appearance and looked very pleased with him. Somehow, that meant something. It was approval from all sides. No one had a problem with him. 

"So, did you get your schedule?" Bobby asked as breakfast died down. People were leaving to get their books. 

"Yeah. I have my first period with... Logan for training" he said. 

Bobby frowned. "What did you say to piss Jean off?" 

"What?" 

"Ha. Training sessions with 'Professor' Logan are usually punishments. He's only here a few months out of the year usually but when he is, he's harsh." 

"She... must think he can help me." 

"I'm just saying, I don't envy you. Not one bit." 

"Where's his class room?" 

"Outside in the field." 

"Any tips?"

"Do what he says. He doesn't tolerate complaining. Uh... He'll work you hard. He's not happy if you're not on fire at the end of his lessons. He actually... set me on fire once... For real. I think he got in trouble for that though."

Warren laughed. He couldn't believe that. It sounded too fantastical. 

They left together and Bobby pointed to the window "He's already out there. God Speed, Angel-Man." Bobby said with a salute. Bobby laughed as he walked off.

Logan was waiting in the field. They hadn't met yet. Warren held out a hand and met an extremely firm one. 

"Let's get started." he said. 

"What will we be doing?" Warren asked. Abrupt was a good word for Logan. 

"Didn't ask. Can you fly with those?" He asked. 

"No." 

"Then that's what we're workin' on. I'm throwin' you off the roof on Saturday." The words sounded like a joke. The tone did not.

"Today's Qednesday." 

"Friday, then." 

Logan was a harsh taskmaster, and very hands on. He was surprised to find it felt less intrusive. Logan was rough. He was making him work. And work hard. He wasn't probing. He wasn't asking questions. He was fighting him. As stout as he was, he had a lot of raw power.

Logan seemed completely uninterested in not hurting him. "Keep them up." he said, pressing down on his wings with what must have been his entire body weight. "You can't be tired yet." Warren opened his mouth to speak "By 'can't' I mean 'you're not allowed.'" He clarified. He was given short breaks every couple minutes or hours or whatever it was. He regretted not bringing water more than anything. He shouldn't be so thirsty for as little as he was moving. He did give himself points for not complaining. It seemed Logan's class was pass-fail. 

They finished that exercise and he was made to do modified planks. "Bodyweight exercises are going to be your friend." Logan said. He held the position. Body straight, wings straight out to either side. Logan nudged his left one up with his foot every time it fell below some arbitrary acceptable level. "When you're flying or gliding, you'll need to be able to keep your body straight."

"How would you know?" 

"Ever seen a plane with it's legs splayed all over? Streamlining." Another nudge. 

"Ok, sit ups." 

"I can't really lay on my back." 

"Who said anything about laying?" 

Logan gestured to a thigh-high wall. They found a way to make the sit ups happen. 

"Ok, now we're going for a run." 

"How long?"

"Until the bell." And run they did. 

The end-of-period bell rang. Warren laid down in the grass. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, he was dying. 

"Well, that's what Bobby meant by 'on fire.'" He said. 

"Next period's with Jean. She's on her way now." 

"Here?" 

"Yup. And I wasn't kidding about the roof." he walked off. 

Warren was given a few blissful minutes of quiet before Jean's shadow blocked his sun. 

"Tired?" 

"He says he's going to throw me off the roof Friday. That's not legal right?" Warren peaked up at her. He didn't care at all how undignified he looked. Usually he worried about those things. About appearing tidy and upright like he was raised. All of that was forgotten. Blowing in the wind.

"He wouldn't do it if he didn't think you could handle it." 

"I can barely hold it while standing. There is no way I'm going anywhere." 

"I am sure he has it figured out. He's a smar--- He's the best there is at what he does." 

"Well, what he does isn't very nice." 

"I was going to let you get a shower and we were going to work on your range of motion. You can have twenty minute of the period. Use hot water, you'll feel better.." She said. That got Warren up. Hot water sounded nice. She followed him in "Down the hall. The gym lockers are there. You should consider changing next time before you work with Logan." 

Warren went wide eyed a moment. "Right. But... I have no gym clothes." he said. 

Jean grinned "We'll get you some. I'll have Bobby show you the laundry until then." 

He washed up with a rag. It was too hard to dry himself and he really didn't feel like carrying around the extra weight. Jean was sitting in the main room. "That was fast." 

They went to her lab and started. She was an entirely different beast. He didn't do anything. She just sat there and did everything in her power to hurt him. He was pretty sure she was more of a sadist than Logan. He wasn't sure how her small frame could produce that much force. 

"You're actually in much better shape than you should be, since you've never let yourself use them before." She said.

"Right..." he didn't feel like complaining. 

The session was as short as it was painful. "You have the rest of the period to yourself. This period is your free period Tuesdays and Thursdays. I want you to stretch as much as you can." She said. "I have a pamphlet for that..." she stood and left the room. Warren took a moment to look at her notes about him. Rude. 

She came back with the pamphlet. "This is for arms and upper body but the idea is the same. Once I think you have it down and have made good progress, you'll be left to your own devices and this will become a free period." She said. 

"It's kind of odd you have pamphlets for this kind of thing." Warren said aloud.

"A lot of students have similar problems. We've never had one like you, but stretching never hurt anything." Warren nodded. 

"The rest of the period is yours. Do you have any questions?"

"No. Thank you." She nodded and patted him on the shoulder. 

He went back to his room. He needed a fresh shirt and to figure out where his first class was. Despite himself, this place was welcoming in every way. He felt bad about being shy. He wasn't even shy. He'd always been personable at other schools. Making friends easy. Not great friends... but friends. Here something was different. It would take some getting used to.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren learns about work and play at Xavier's.

His classes were amazingly standard. It was like being at any other school. It was also boring like any other school. He'd always gotten good grades, but he hadn't always been the most diligent student. He knew he was smart and he often found himself day dreaming or sometimes skipping class altogether. He sat in the back. He already knew the material. They had done it last year at St. Wilfred's. His other classes all has the same flaw. They were about a year behind. He wasn't complaining though. Good grades for no work was fine with him. It'd give him more chance to think. About flying, now. It was like an ear worm. Jean's voice telling him that she thought he could fly. 

Would it be difficult? Could he fly really high? Or fast? Maybe he was the low and slow type. Would it wear him out? How far could he go? What if he fell? There were a million questions that he realized only experimentation would answer.

Each bell rang and he went to his new class. He was mostly ignored as students shuffled between one another to their next class. He got a few stares but by keeping along the wall, he kept himself mostly out of sight. 

Class let out two hours before dinner. He went back to his room and laid down. His stomach hit the mattress and his body turned to pudding. He let his wings sprawl out to each side until they came to a natural stop, still mostly folded, but loose. He didn't have a choice in the matter. Everything hurt. He shuffled out of his shirt and laid still.

"Warren?" He sighed, hearing Bobby's voice. "You OK?" 

"Everything hurts. Logan and Jean are both trying to kill me." 

"Yeah, I know how that goes." Bobby said. He sat on his own bed and looked at him. "You look really miserable." 

"I am really miserable. He says he's throwing me off the roof Friday. My back feels like it's swollen twice its normal size." 

"He's probably not lying." Bobby leaned back on his bed and looked to be deep in thought. "You don't feel cold, right? Like, it doesn't chill you and all that?" 

"Nope. Nothing I've ever encountered anyway..." 

"Ok, one minute." Bobby went to the bathroom. He heard the water running. Bobby came back with an 'I' shaped block of ice wrapped in a towel. "I'm going to put this on your back. I'll try to keep it from melting." Warren didn't have the energy to protest. He wasn't about to turn away an ice pack. The weight was reassuring, almost, and the cold gradually seeped into his body.

"That's actually really nice." He sighed. 

"You're welcome."

They sat in silence a while, Warren enjoyed the numbing cold on his back and dozed. 

"You really like your sleep, don't you?" Bobby asked.

Warren propped himself up a little. "I didn't really realize it, but... I haven't slept well in years. I've been changing between a lot of boarding schools for the last seven years and I have had to sleep with... well... my harness on. I thought I was sleeping well... I've never been more wrong. Also, my last school was in Italy. I'll come 'round. Just not today. I have jet-lag that could kill a horse." He said with a chuckle. Two days. He'd been here two days. He was out. Relaxing despite himself, around his room mate anyway. The professor said he hadn't meant anything by his words... And it seemed to be true. Bobby didn't seem angry in the least. Warren didn't have the strength to be. 

"Thanks for this. It feels good." He said. 

Bobby nodded, opening his books. "No problem. Tell me if it get too drippy." 

Warren propped one of his books up against the headboard, he could do his homework from here, if he tried hard enough. 

An hour passed. "How the melting?" 

"It feels good..." 

Bobby closed his book and looked at him. "You're soaked... So's your bed." he said. 

"Can you freeze it and... I dunno. Make a block?"

Bobby thought a moment. "I don't actually know. I don't think so."

"Shit." Warren got up, catching the ice block behind him. There was a puddle on his bed. He pulled the blanket off. For as much water as had melted, very little had made it through to the mattress. "I'm going to hang these on the balcony. It's warm out.... I mean... Should help." He did as he said and and draped the blankets over the rail. They had about four hours before dark. That was enough time? Right? 

"You can have mine if they don't get done." Bobby said. "I really only keep them for the weight." 

"So, you like the cold?"

"Yeah, cold everything. Cold baths, cold drinks... I like to lay out in the snow. It's like my own special version of sunbathing." He paused a moment. "Last year we got a lot of snow. I took to hiding out in it for HOURS. I'd wait until someone walked by and then freeze their feet to the ground... Just enough to trip them." 

"That's... kind of mean." 

"It was officially sanctioned." Bobby said. Warren couldn't fathom what that meant. "Thought Scott was going to kill me." 

"I need to change..." Warren said. He pulled one of his other altered shirts out and pulled it on. Dressing had gone from a twenty minute affair to a minute or less. 

Bobby took the ice block and stuck it in the tub. He'd make another if needed.

Dinner was quiet. Or more, Warren was quiet at dinner. Bobby engaged everyone and dragged Warren through the myriad conversations going on around them. They returned to their room. Two hours quiet time. Warren got his work done quickly, it was all last-year stuff. He flipped his blankets and paced the room. 

"OK. What's up?" Bobby said. 

"I'm getting thrown off a roof in a few days, and everyone seems to think it's actually going to happen." 

"It'll be ok. Logan's pretty rough but he'll have some kind of plan for if you drop like a stone."

"It's easy to be confident when you're not the one being thrown off a roof." 

They were quiet a little while longer. "What if you gave it a try before Friday?" Bobby paused and looked at the balcony. "Like, I will go and magic up some snow. And then if you fall, you land in nice, powdery snow instead of the hard ground."

"That's a terrible idea." 

"This school is a terrible idea, but somehow it's working." A pause "Don't ever tell Professor X hear you say that." 

"I'll think about it. I mean, I have.... thirty hours or so." He said. 

"Tonight's movie night, you know? I'll be going." 

"Are you asking me out?" 

Warren felt a snowball hit the back of his head. "Don't be like that. I was just going to say it's a good time to get to know everyone without having to talk to them. Seems like that'd be right up your alley. Other option is to join the morning yoga class, which starts at six and isn't well attended." 

"A movie might be nice. What kind of movie?" 

"There are three rooms. I think there'll be a chick flick. A cartoon. and a 50's horror movie. You can go see whatever you want, I'm seeing the chick flick." Bobby said.

"Not what I expected you to say."

"All the girls our age will be there. I'm not going for the movie. There's a big end-of-year dance next month and I'm not going alone again." 

"I'll see something. I don't know which yet." 

Eight thirty came quickly. 

"Movies are this way. There're three lounges that anyone can use at any time... Well. Mostly some of the clubs have them reserved at different times, schedule's right on the door though." 

"This group..." he popped his head in "Will be watching an old horror movie." 

He looked in the other "Chick Flick's here. So kids are in there." Warren thought about it. None of them were really his style. 

"I'm going for the Horror movie."

"Well, they've already started. Get in there." Bobby opened the door and pushed him in. He stumbled a bit but no one looked up. The room had a dozen-odd people in it and a mix match of chairs apparently gathered from all over the house. He grabbed a stool at the back. Still, no one looked up. The movie was started, but not far into it. He almost laughed as the movie got into full swing. It was "The Birds." He rolled his eyes and almost walked out. He didn't though. The movie wasn't as bad as he remembered. 

As the finale kicked up, one kid looked around the room and spotted him. He chuckled and something lit up in his eyes. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and put one kernal in his mouth. He looked around again. The popcorn glowed briefly and he tossed them his way. It exploded violently. There was some screaming. Startled, Warren lept back off his chair, his wings came around his sides protectively just the same as his arms came up. The girl next to him had looked his way and screamed. Everyone was on their feet.

The kid that caused the explosions was in tears laughing. He couldn't have been a year younger than himself. "Not sorry. Not at all. I saw dem wings and hadta do it." He was wiping tears from his eyes as he laughed. 

"That's not funny, Remy" One of the girls kicked him in the thigh. 

"Hey, watch de goods. Sum'unn here has to fink that was funny. Can't juss be me." 

The room went their separate ways, everyone on edge and a bit angry at the disruption. Remy patted his shoulder before he left. "You've got some balls stayin' through the movie when you saw me dere." " 

And he was left alone in the room. It wasn't a bad thing. He had been worried people would linger and pry. He was worried he would be made to talk. It was perfect. 

He decided to find Bobby. He opened the Chick Flick room door. Most the viewers were sitting in a pile on the floor in front of the couch. Bobby was sitting on the couch. He'd apparently struck out. Warren paused, this room had no spare chairs. He walked to the back of the couch. He sat on the back, one foot on the arm and the other between Bobby and the arm. Comfortable enough. Bobby leaned up at him "What was the screaming about?" he whispered. 

"They were watching "The Birds."" 

"Never seen it." Bobby shrugged. Warren waved him off. It was rude to talk during a movie. He'd tell the story later. Bobby, who had been leaning on the arm of the sofa, leaned on his leg. Warren tried to shake him off but he wasn't having that. The other option was to lean towards a girl. Or sit up straight, which it seemed Bobby wasn't about to do. One of the girls in front of him held her soda up and looked at him. He took it, blew over the top, and his head moved in a very distinct way. He'd winked before handing it back. No wonder he struck out. Winking... Who did that?

The movie came to it's shocking, dramatic conclusion. Half the girls talked about how corny it was and the others talked about how good it was. Bobby was right about the male : female ratio, at least. He said bye to everyone and they left together. 

"So, what happened in there? Usually the old horror movies fail to impress." 

Warren tilted his head back and forth reluctantly. "The movie was about birds attacking people. Some little shit called Remy exploded some popcorn my way and my wings scared the girl next to me."

"That's actually pretty brilliant. It made half our room jump." Bobby said. 

"What about you? You were the only guy in a room with twenty girls and you're walking back to the room with me?" 

"I'm playing a long game. It'll happen. And when it does. Tie on the door. I saw you hang your ties up. We'll work on your counting later." 

Warren yawned. He was too young to want to go to bed at half-past ten, but everything about the day had worn him out. And he had Logan in the morning, again. "Should I be calling Logan 'professor'?" 

"Nope. Everyone calls him Logan. He's only in a few months out of the year.... He could disappear at any time. Pretty sure that's his real power." 

"No. His real power is torture. If we'd had to go ten more minutes I would be dead right now. Speaking of dead. I'm having a bath." 

"That's cool. I take mine in the mornings." 

The bath was a dream. He remembered the blankets halfway through. When he stepped out, Bobby's blankets were piled on his bed. Bobby was laid flat out on his bed, asleep. Sure enough, his blankets were still wet. Bobby liked the weight... He thought a moment before getting his trench coat out. It was heavy. He draped it over him. Bobby didn't move. He probably didn't even notice. It was the thought that counted, right? His roommate had been nothing but thoughtful, even if it was the annoying, cloying kind of thoughtfulness. Warren arranged his blankets, slid into bed, and was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm already playing with the timeline, I might as well add a couple guest appearances from some of my favorites.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren jumps for no man.

"Let's try it." Warren said. 

Bobby's head whipped up from his work. "What, seriously?"

"Yeah. Better on my own terms than someone else's." He said. 

"How do you want to do it?" 

"Like you said. I mean, offer still stands, right?"

"Of course, Not gonna take back an offer like that." Bobby lept up. "What do we need?"

"Um.. Well, you do your thing and then... I'll do mine..." Warren was rapidly swinging between doubt and confidence. He felt he truthfully had no choice. He'd spent all day thinking about it, ignoring classes, zombie-ing through lunch and dinner, and groaning through a hot bath that did nothing to relax his overworked muscles. Three days and he was already in his regular school funk. Bored and unchallenged. The anxiety was new, but that would be resolved tonight. He wasn't going to let someone else decide for him when and where he would jump off a building. 

"Let me just go outside. Stand on the balcony and I'll signal when I'm ready." Bobby made a slide out of ice going down the side of the building. He started to magic up snow, however that worked. He checked the consistency by jumping bodily into it and then waved his arms. It was obviously a huge "come on" signal. It was dark out, but not so dark he couldn't see. The snow was white, the grass looked black in the moonlight. It was a clear runway. 

It should be easy. He thought to himself. He was sure he couldn't take off from the ground but this was just glide and then... if he moved his wings, he would go up... It should be easy. Surely he had the instincts to go with this. They moved as though they had a mind of their own. When they were free, that is. They shifted when he shrugged, puffed up when he was angry, and drooped when he was sad, not that he had been since he'd been here. His wings were easily half his body, he could handle this. He climbed up on the railing. Bobby was cheering, almost audibly, from the end of the runway. He was clapping and jumping up and down. He stood there a moment. 

Two false starts served only to strengthen his resolve. If he waited until morning, he'd have no choice. He'd be pushed off the roof... the big roof on the other side of the building. Another hundred feet up. He fell and fell. He had his wings straight out and his body as stiff as he could get it. He was falling face first. Finally, he felt his wings catch the wing and for one brief moment, he was still going down but more slowly.

The force of his entire body weight catching on the air shook his body from it's controlled position and from that, there was no recovery. His leg hit the snow, then the ground, he felt something snap. His wings spasmed towards his body like a cocoon, trying to protect his torso. He screamed as he crashed. He heard Bobby shouting and getting closer. Bobby dove into the snow.

"Oh my god. Are you ok?" Bobby's arms were around him, pulling him out of the thick fluff that wasn't enough. 

Warren tried to respond. He wanted to say 'My leg's broken.' All that came out was "Shit. Stop." Being moved was not at the top of his to-do lost. 

"I'm going to get you inside, Angel-man." Bobby rolled him, in what must have been the most painful way he could think to do it in, until he was on his back. Bobby picked him straight up off the ground and almost tumbled backwards as he overestimated how much force was needed. He righted himself and ran for the door. It opened as he got to it. Jean, Logan and Professor X were there, all in their night clothes, or boxers in Logan's case. "I think his leg's broken." 

"What were you thinking?" Jean started. She was in mother hen mode, Bobby knew, but explaining that to Warren in her presence would get them both brain blasted.

"He was worried about getting thrown off the roof. He decided to try it himself." 

"Off the Balcony?" Logan asked. 

"We have to move him. I'll have to X-Ray this." Jean said. Bobby got under Warren's arm on his bad side. 

"Yes, the balcony. He was worried because you pointed at the big building. He thought starting lower would be easier." 

Logan sighed as Bobby and Jean carried him to the infirmary. Jean gave him some pain medicine. Logan gave them a minute to do the X-Rays.

"You're stupid, kid." Logan said while Jean gathered the plaster.

"How am I stupid? You were going to throw me off the roof?" Warren said, a little outraged. 

"Yeah I was. I still am." Jean glared at Logan. "But I'm not stupid. The roof's higher. You have to get to a certain speed before you can so much as glide. Too slow, and you fall." 

Warren put an arm over his face. Mostly because his leg throbbed as she moved it. He was soaked from the melted snow, which only served to make him more miserable. 

"What do you mean, you still are."

"Yes, Logan. What *do* you mean?" Jean asked from her position. 

"Broken leg, no legs. His wings are fine." Logan shrugged. "You're gonna be there anyway. Same plan as before, except now I lash his broken leg to his good leg." Jean gave him a look that clearly said they'd be discussing it first. 

Professor Xavier was sitting quietly to the side while they talked. That made Warren more nervous than anything. He was probably angry. His face betrayed nothing. Warren wondered how badly could this go. Would he be kicked out? Would his parents be called? They didn't know about his... appendages. Did Xavier know he'd run away to boarding schools specifically to keep that under wraps? He almost felt like a good panic was in order but whatever Jean had given him had made him really not care as much as he was possible. 

Jean patted the cast gently. "You're going to be on a crutch for a while." She said. "You broke your foot and leg... It's not a full break in either case. We'll have to watch it closely to see exactly how your bones heal. I think, just guessing, a week and we can consider a soft cast. Logan, a word?" 

Logan and Jean left the room to argue about the roof. "Professor, I'm sorry." Warren decided preemptive was the way to go.

"It's alright Warren. I wanted to talk to you."

"Want me to leave?" Bobby asked from where he had taken up residence in the computer chair in the corner.

"No, you can stay, if it's alright with Warren." Xavier said. 

"It's cool." Warren waved his hand

"I must say I am both impressed and disappointed with you." Xavier said. "Not an unusual combination here. I had expected you to trust my staff a bit more. Logan is a bit abrupt in his ways, but I've specifically forbidden him from putting students in any life-threatening situations." Bobby laughed again. The same choppy laughter from the night before. Xavier fixed him with a stare until he stopped. "I am impressed at your bravery though. You have potential. And I know you are extremely adept at secret keeping. If you continue to work hard, I want you to know that I may be willing to share some of mine with you." 

Warren gave him a look he knew was an odd look. He honestly didn't know what he was trying to convey with it. His head felt heavy from the drugs and the words warped into bizarre things.

"Wait, really Professor?" Bobby said, sitting up straight. 

"I gave you this exact same speech last year... have you forgotten so quickly?" 

"No." Bobby swiveled in the chair a little. 

"We will talk about it later. Jean's released him to go back to his room if you feel you can handle getting him back there." Xavier looked between them

"Yeah, The guy weighs nothing. Like seriously, it's like carrying a six year old. I know next time we play chicken.... Anyway. I can get him there." Bobby moved to his side. "Come on, Angel... Let's get you up." 

"Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Professor. And Jean, but she's not here." 

"They must have given you the good stuff." 

"You can say that again." Bobby laughed, picked him most the way up and headed for the door.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skipping class and sneaking out

"You're not throwing him off the roof. It might have been a good, supervised activity before he broke his leg, but-" Jean

"He didn't break his wings... We can still make it work." Logan

"You realize what the turnout for this will be?" 

"If he doesn't do it soon, he'll probably never fly."

"He already proved he's willing to try." 

They apparently didn't realize he was awake. He was on his stomach, leg propped up behind him on a rolled up towel. He stayed still. Too still? He wanted to appear still asleep. It was like eavesdropping, except their fault.

"And you think that's enough?" Logan and Jean were fighting. There was a silent weight to his left on the bed, pinning the very tip of his wing under it. He had pulled the blankets entirely over himself, the person on his bed probably didn't even know. 

"He tried because he was scared. That doesn't mean he will ever be willing to try again."

The body on his wing twisted towards him "He'll do it." It was Bobby. He felt a hand rest on his back. "He jumped down all on his own. At the very least, he was willing to go for it. He just wants it to be on his own terms." Staying 'asleep' was definitely his best bet. This conversation was way too involved and it seemed like Bobby had it under control at the moment. 

"I know you're awake Warren." Jean said irritably, as if she'd read his mind. He nodded. She probably did.

"Well you started without me, I figured you could finish without me." 

"You don't want a say in this?" 

"I hurt all over. Between Logan's torture, your torture, and jumping off the balcony.... Well let's just say Bobby sitting on me doesn't even register." Bobby jumped up. He moved his wing under the blanket, it wasn't hurt. He turned himself over awkwardly and sat most the way up. "I don't care how we do this. I've already done the hard part." he sighed. "I just like to do things on my own. I always have." he said. Logan and Jean looked at each other and at him. "I've been shuffling myself between boarding schools for like... years now. Whenever I stopped being a hunchback and started getting..." He yawned conveniently. He hadn't really wanted to go there.

"Ok then." Jean said. She stared hard at Logan. 

"Fine, schedule the next jump with me." Logan said, he jabbed his finger into Warren's chest. "Until then, regular classes. Which you're late for. Get up. Get ready. You too Bobby." Logan looked annoyed, but in a friendly way. Bobby had mentioned he could be 'scary like that'. He walked out without a word. 

Jean leaned in "I'll see you second period. Take your medicine." She nodded to a little orange bottle on the table which levitated into his hand as he reached for it. Painkillers. There was some mercy left in her yet. She left with a small wave. 

Bobby switched his pajamas for jeans and ran his fingers through his hair in the mirror. "Sorry, I sat on you, but the way." he said. 

"It's ok. It was just the tip." Warren took the pills and stood, no time to wait for them to do their magic. He realized he was out of tailored shirts and hadn't done laundry. Bobby was half out the door when Warren spoke, "What's the dress code here?"

"Wear clothes... Unless you have fur, then you can get away with quite a lot... One day I wore a suit made only out of ice and nothing else. Well, briefs too... That was exciting." Bobby had a look that said he was leaving a major part of the story out.

Warren had two exercise-related classes in a row. And it was Friday. He pulled an A-Shirt on backwards, the neckline laid just low enough to let his wings through. 

"You look dorky." Bobby said. He'd stayed and watched.

"I don't have any other ideas." He shrugged. 

"Let me try something." he said. Bobby stepped foward and grabbed the hem at his throat. He froze a line straight down and tore it. "Better." 

"There's no way it's better." 

"It's better." Bobby said "Trust me. There's nothing that would get you off the gossip rack anyway." He paused. "Actually, the less you wear, the more the girls are going to line up outside our door. Seriously. They've made a codename for you so they can talk about you... They think it's a secret."

"What codename?" Warren looked up. He was kind of curious. He'd always had a soft spot for the girls, though he'd never done more than look. 

"Angel. Because of the, you know, huge, white feathery wings. The blonde hair probably contributed to." 

"That's weird."

"I'm glad you think so. I suggested it" he said, tipping a fake hat. "Well I have English. I'm gonna be eaten alive." 

He made it to Logan's class. He'd thought that it'd be easier since his leg was broken. No. Logan had his own ideas. Every exercise could be modified for leaning, sitting, or even laying down, so he threatened. 

When he mentioned that he was in pain earlier, he had been wrong. Logan had been keen prove that. 

Jean came out at the end of the period. "Nu-uh. He arrived late, he's staying late." Jean didn't protest. She watched as Logan got his real sadist on and made the last 20 minutes hell. "One of these days, I'll make ya cry." Logan said as they parted ways.

"I would say to take a bath but the cast wouldn't approve. How about we do some gentle stretching and then you can rest. The painkillers are probably taking a lot out of you."

"No. Logan did that." They stretched and the third period bell rang. Jean let him go and he went back to his room. He wasn't about to go to class in this shirt, sweaty and mostly naked. He laid down. He'd take the lecture and some more pain medicine. 

He sat on the side of the tub to get clean, his cast was in the way. He scrubbed as best he could and laid back down. 

Bobby came by at lunch. "Heard you skipped class." 

"Yeah well I have nothing to wear and I can't think because of the painkillers." He said. 

"I have half-days on Friday."

"I should go to town." Warren said.

"What? In what car?" 

"Mine's in the garage." 

"You have a car?"

"I bought one during the layover, on my laptop." Warren shrugged. he'd never been shy about his money. "I knew I would be here a while. 

"We should go to town." 

"You're coming?"

"I'm driving... Your leg?" Warren had to see the logic there. He was in no way capable of driving with this. 

"You make a good case. Let's wait until mid-next period when everyone's busy." 

"Sounds good."

"I'll get dressed." 

Bobby sat back and watched as he got out his belts. He was forbidden to wear them here, but going out... 

He got the first three on, leaving the undershirt on. They were tight but comfortable. Solid enough to go to a store. The combination of trying to balance and belting his thighs was making him insane. 

"Need a hand?" Bobby asked, laughing.

"I've got it." Bobby laughed harder when he got around to trying to belt to his bad leg. Finally the other stood up and got in front of him. He didn't say a word, just snickered and grabbed Warren's shoulders to steady him. 

Warren finished up. "Coat, and then we wait." he said. Fifth period would be starting in five minutes. They could make their way to the garage with the rest of the students and then leave after everyone was settled. Bell rang. They were out and down the hall. The garage was easy to get to. Keys were in the dash. He handed them over and they got in. A button had been added to the driver's sun visor and the door started to open. They were in the clear.

Bobby had a look of pure excitement on his face. While Warren was an academically good student, he was an attendance poor one. Bobby looked like this was his first time, not even skipping, just helping someone else skip. The garage doors raised and they beand to pull out just in time to see Scott and six students round the corner. "Go. Go. Too late." Warren said, hitting Bobby in the shoulder to get his attention back.

Bobby pulled out fast and they were gone. "We're in so much trouble." 

"Nah. It'll be fine. I can justify it."

"We're only supposed to leave school grounds on weekends and with written permission."

"I need to do some shopping." 

"You're buying me dinner too. If I'm going to completely fail at sneaking you off the property, you're going to make it up to me." Bobby said with a laugh.

"Deal."


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out on the town.

They made it to town. Traffic was essentially non-existent. Bobby didn't calm down in the least. It seemed this kind of playing hooky was too much for him. He looked as though his heart might explode at any moment. Bobby's face was splitting in half.

"So, what first?" 

"Shopping, then eating. You're carrying everything. If I'm taking you to dinner, I'm making sure you're good and hungry first. Plus, crutch."

"Sounds fair." Bobby pulled up in front of the store. "What kind of things do you need?"

"Snacks-"

"Those aren't allowed in the rooms."

"So, snacks, oil, a few personal care items" He looked around.

Bobby lead them to the snacks. They both picked a few dry things that wouldn't cause too much mess. He didn't really care too much that there was a rule against it, every dorm had those rules and every room broke those rules. They were sure to get a lecture when they got back, so they'd leave those in the trunk and get out the personal care items. 

They got to the oil aisle. "So, oil?"

"Yup." Warren didn't want to tell him why. His wings were dry, they had been for years. And years of harsh shampoos and hot, rushed showers hadn't done him any favors. He just never had the time or privacy anywhere else to do it properly. He had a f eeling it was going to become a full time job, though. He also wanted to buy six or seven sponges and a dozen yardsticks, as he couldn't reach everything anymore. It was mostly humiliating, he'd rather let Bobby and anyone else wonder. He had no idea what he wanted. He'd used olive oil when he was younger; it'd been what was available. He had heard good things about coconut for skin and grapeseed... He picked them both up and put them in the cart. 

"Now toiletries." They made their way across the store. 

"You should buy some new shirts." Bobby said. "Look at this style." Bobby held up a square, loose shirt with an open back. 

"That's women's." 

"It's a square."

"It's for women."

"It's clearance. I'll buy it and you can try it. I bet it'd comfortable." Bobby put it in the cart.

"I'm going to buy some button-downs."

"Sounds stuffy." 

"I like dress shirts."

"Yeah, rich family, they probably put you in them when you were two... I bet every picture of you has you wearing a button shirt." 

Warren laughed sharply. He really doubted there were any pictures of him as a kid. Bobby gave him a funny look. "Let's just get the rest of the stuff. Clothes shopping can wait." Warren said

Warren found the sponges and bought every single one they had. He bought three bottles of shampoo and three of conditioner. "I actually hate shopping. If I can avoid having to come back..." 

Bobby didn't complain as they wandered around the store. He realized having oil in the tub meant he'd have to clean it out each time. He could probably get away with once a week oiling. It also occurred to him if he were ever feeling lazy, he could just pour the oil in the tub and roll around. The tub was big enough for two... He'd have to scope out the school and strongly consider that. Add oil-wrestling-a-hottie to the bucket list. 

Bobby stared at him a moment and then started laughing. "You have the dumbest look on your face right now." 

"Shut up. I was thinking." 

"Your thinking face.... There aren't words." 

"Shut up." He grabbed a bottle of cleaner and put that in the cart. He also got a scrubber.

"You're not a neat freak, are you?" Bobby asked. 

"You'll learn to appreciate it." 

Checking out was a quick affair. Bobby said something about having had a summer job. The self-checkout did the rest.

"Ok, I've officially carried all your bags... Now you owe me a dinner."

"Yeah, right. I saw that French place on our way here?"

"That certainly qualifies as nice."

"Well, take us then." Warren said. 

The restaurant was indeed nice. They weren't asked about reservations, but only because it wasn't quite dinner time.

"May I take your coat, sir?" The maître d' asked. 

"I'll keep it, thank you." They were seated. 

"Something's off." Bobby said, looking around wildly.

"They think we can't pay. Could of teenagers in casual dress. I'll fix it." Warren stood up, looking properly pathetic in his too-big coat and carrying his crutch. 

He walked to the server station. "My friend... He's a little shy about being here. Can you open up a five hundred dollar tab and we will keep this on the down-low?" He said with a winning smile. The waiter took his card and ran it. "Thanks, let our waiter know."

He went back to the table "No problem now. I opened up a tab. Get whatever you want." he said. 

Bobby opened the menu and then gawped at him "Read the menu and say that again."

Warren opened it and smirked. "Get whatever you want. I mean it. I have a feeling we'll be paying for this excursion later." 

"Oh yeah. Scott saw us. He saw us see him. He won't be happy. Fortunately, he won't let Logan do it... He's going to want to dish it out himself." 

They ordered. Bobby let Warren pick him out something and then picked something out himself.

"What's this?" Bobby pointed to something.

"French ice cream, more or less. You should get some." 

Warren felt he'd never get enough of watching Bobby pick at the food. It was mostly ordinary stuff, served in different ways. He ended up with fish, scaled but still in the skin and possessing of its head. Bobby had closed his eyes. 

"Just.. Can you cut it for me? Just, take the head off at least." 

Warren had never laughed so hard. He cut it up and moved the head and any pieces that looked too much like animal to his own plate. 

"I'm 100% squeamish." Bobby said. "I admit it freely." He picked at the fish now with his fork, apparently not put off now that it was no longer staring at him. "I went to my aunt's as a kid. They killed a chicken for dinner. I didn't eat meat for like... two months. I was eight. Two months might as well be a lifetime when you're eight." 

"What broke it for you?"

"Ever had that canned spaghetti... the kind with those terrible meatballs? I had a brief affair with those right before my nineth birthday. Let me try some of that." 

Warren had to surrender a portion of everything on his plate. He didn't mind. That one school in France had had meals like this every night. He'd come back home and eaten nothing but sandwiches for a week. And the look of pure joy and/or confusion and revulsion on Bobby's face was worth it. They ordered a couple things just because Bobby tried to say the name or said he liked cheese. 

Bobby tried some of everything. He was a funny one. He wouldn't order anything costing more than thirty dollars, but he didn't seem to see a problem with the six twenty-dollar plates they'd gotten. Warren didn't care. They could take it all home. 

And take it home they did. His tab covered it easily, he left a good tip and they found some to-go boxes. Warren got the impression they rarely were asked. 

"If I order Parfait Glace, will it keep until we get home? It's kinda frozen." Warren asked.

"Yeah. It'll be fine." 

"Can we get this, and this to take home?" he asked, pointing to the dessert menu. The desserts came and they grabbed their bags to go. 

"Does this make up for having you sneak me out?"

"Yeah, Scott's not too bad. He'll be angry... I once got assigned three days in the woods with Logan, Scott will never top that trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone reads this, do you like the limited 3rd person? I am working on another story and I am trying to decide between keeping limited third or going for omniscient. 
> 
> Anyway, just some short sweetness. Next chapter's a bit mean.


	9. Nine

Bobby drove them home, parfait in lap. The temperature difference between inside and outside caused condensation on the outside of the car. It made gave them a good laugh as he kept putting the wipers on. 

"I don't have as good a handle on the whole... cooling thing as the professor would like." They laughed and turned the heat on to try to keep the condensation down. 

The fun stopped as they pulled in. The sight that greeted them was chilling. Scott and Logan were standing in front of the garage, just talking. They looked angry, but not like they were going to fight.

Bobby stopped the car a couple hundred yards away. "Are you sure you can't fly? Because if you could... Now would be the time." 

Logan motioned them into the garage. "Now... I mean, right now." Bobby said as he rolled the car forward. 

They got out of the car. Logan left, said a few more words to Scott and walked away. 

"Skipping class?" Scott started. "You've been here less than a week." He looked at Warren. "And helping him? I thought you knew better." He said to Bobby. 

They both looked down. Bobby was holding his parfait. "Laps. Now." Scott said. "Around the building. Until I tell you to stop." 

"He has a broken leg." 

"Then you'll help him. Laps. Now." Scott pointed. 

It was awkward. Bobby ended up with one of Warren's arms over his shoulder. It was the three legged race from Hell. Warren was barely balanced. He still had his coat and harnesses on. Bobby had no good place to put his arm around Warren's back. Every time they even remotely slowed down, Scott would be right there. He kept them at the grueling pace. Students peppered their track around the school. Laughing at them. Goading them. Normal schoolyard behavior.

"How does he know?" Warren complained the seventh time Scott came out to tell them to keep pace. 

"Cameras... All around the school." Bobby puffed. Everyone else went in for dinner and then came back out to watch them some more. Bobby knew that was always how it went. He'd been on the spectator side of this before. 

They were allowed to go at curfew, which on Fridays was almost midnight. They were both whipped. They barely got to their rooms when Scott came to them. "What were you thinking?" He asked. Warren was a little embarrassed. He was shirtless and had half his belts on. 

He went for non-chalant "I really needed some things..." he tried to meet Scott's eyes behind the glasses. 

"You're not cleared to leave the grounds. There are rules here. And you." he rounded on Bobby, giving Warren enough time to find a shirt to pull on. "You know better."

"I'm allowed to leave... Any time I don't have classes." Bobby said, holding his hands up. He was laying on the bed. He'd decided to sleep in his clothes. His 'sweaty, filthy clothes.' As he said. 

"Not now. Both of you are confined to the grounds. The professor wants to have a word with you in the morning. Both of you. Immediately after breakfast." Scott gave them each one more look before leaving the room. 

"Does that mean I can go get my things from the car?"

"Yeah. I have the keys. They've probably put one of those horrible yellow things on it, so you won't be able to move it. Also. Past curfew." 

"I.... just don't care." He pulled his coat on and left the room. 

today had started out fun. They'd had a great time out. He had enjoyed wandering the store and spending gobs of money on his friend. And it had been true. There were things he needed. He was finally in a position where he COULD take care of himself. But he'd needed the proper tools. He made it to the garage. 

"You're supposed to be in bed." Warren startled at the voice. Scott. 

"I had to get my stuff." he said. 

"And the coat?" 

Warren looked away "I was cold." 

"Get your stuff. I'll walk you back to your room and you will stay there. You're grounded. Except for meals and classes." 

"Works for me." Warren said with a small shrug. He got his things out of the trunk and he and Scott headed to the room. 

"He's grounded." Was all Scott said to Bobby, apparently so there'd be no misunderstandings. 

"I'm having a bath. I'll try not to keep you up." He said. He separated the food out of the bags and stuck them in the drawers before taking the rest with him. He looked at his supplies. He had bought extra because he fully intended to destroy some of it while he tried to perfect his new tool. He decided to go with the easiest first. He pressed the yardstick into the sponge until the sponge was firmly on it. That was easy. He ran a warm bath and started what he wanted to become his new schedule. He stretched. The joints in his wings cracked audibly. He sore. Both from the awkward run he'd had and from all the days previous under Logan's gentle tutilage. He soaked in the warm water before starting to rub his wings. He kept his leg over the edge of the tub so it wouldn't get wet. He felt pretty lucky that he floated as much as he did. He wondered if he could drown if he tried. Oh, his wings. They hurt, everything hurt. He preened the feathers. They were all messed up, again. He'd have to do straighten them more frequently. It was odd. He felt more comfortable when they were straightened, but he hadn't really noticed how uncomfortable he had been before. Either way, there was no going back now.

He finished washing himself. Even four days in he could tell his chest was more built than it had been. His back too, likely. He finished with his hair and then drained the tub. Next was the yardstick. He stood up and almost toppled backwards. One leg. His wings were full of water. He squeezed them out and tried to fluff them up. He didn't want to use the hair dryer. It was late. Bobby was asleep. He turned the bathroom light out and groped for the knob. He didn't want to wake Bobby. He was mostly dry now, except his wings. They were four stories up, the balcony would have a nice warm breeze tonight. 

He hobbled out of the bathroom as quietly as he could and opened the door. Warm. Wind. It was nice. He stood there. Technically, he thought, the balcony is part of the room. He fluffed his feathered up to try to get some air moving between them and leaned on the railing. It wasn't as fast as the hair dryer, but it was meditative up here. A few students were outside, apparently having a night lesson. Logan was leading it. He was barking orders he couldn't quite make out. They were apparently sparring. One was chasing the other two. They were using their powers to get away. One could float and the other go through walls. The one chasing them could make some kind of orange energy barriers, but they seemed limited in size and number. There were never more than four. 

The girl ran straight through Logan, who got hit with an energy barrier. He paused the exercise long enough to lay down some new rules or scream at them or something. For a short, burly man, Logan could be very shrill.

Warren felt his wing up after some time. Dry enough. He moved back to the bathroom and got the oil out. He could do the side towards him. The other side was just about impossible. The yardstick was too long, he couldn't put any pressure on the far end. But if it were any shorter, he couldn't reach anything. He grumbled to himself as he twisted and leaned, trying to reach his entire left wing. He felt gross. He felt stupid. He was a little pissed. When he'd been a kid, they'd been small enough to hide under loose clothes and he could clean himself. Now he felt like a monstrous infant. He laid on the ground. On his back. On his stomach. 

He was half draped over the side of the tub trying to get new leverage when he heard a chuckle. The chuckle turned into a laugh. He hung his head. "You need the restroom?"

Bobby couldn't respond. He was on the ground. He was curled in a ball, laughing. "Quiet, asshole. You're going to wake someone up." He nudged Bobby with his foot. 

"What.... What are you doing?" Bobby was gasping for air. 

"Trying to... What does it look like?"

"It looks like you have a sponge on a stick.... and you're bent over the side of the tub... Trying to do something." Bobby's face was frozen in a huge smile as he tried to get his breath back. 

"It's not funny. You can have the bathroom." he grabbed his spare towel and closed the bathroom. He pulled the towel over his wings to try to get as much of the stupid oil off as possible and laid down, covering himself with his blankets. He was sure they'd be stained forever and he'd have to hear Bobby laughing about that as well. 

He kept his head down as he heard the toilet flush and the sink come on and shut off and Bobby come back into the room.

"Warren, you awake?" Warren didn't answer. Bobby laid down and the shifting on his side of the room stopped after short time. Warren just laid there. He didn't much feel like sleeping.


	10. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're starting to earn that rating now...

Warren was woken early by Bobby. Who was dressed as usual. How the hell did he get roomed with an early bird? Hadn't he ever heard of the second mouse.

"Get up. We have a meeting with the professor." Bobby said. Warren nodded from his laying position. "I'll be getting breakfast. We have to meet him in thirty minutes so be fast." He got up and threw a shirt on. He still hadn't done his laundry. He was wearing the same three shirts. That was partially his own fault. He made his bed mostly because he had, in fact, gotten oil everywhere. He didn't want to hear about that later. There was no reason for anyone to know. The only good thing was that his wings were perfect now. The bedding has absorbed most of it, but not all of it. He stepped out the door with a frown. He was running late, between dressing and making his bed. 

He made his way to the office he'd met the professor in before. The crutches made it a bit of a pain but he made it in time. Bobby rounded the corner minutes later. "I didn't see you at breakfast, so I grabbed you some toast." 

"Yeah, well, after last night I wasn't sure I wanted to to be known as that kid in the three-legged race."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I had to take the full brunt of the teasing." Bobby said, it seemed good natured, but Warren couldn't be sure how. The entire school turned out. His plan was to pretend it never happened. 

"You're the one who let me sleep in." Warren said. 

The door to the office opened. "Warren, Bobby." The professor said.

They stood in front of his desk. "Please, sit. We have a few things to discuss." They sat. "I was a bit surprised to hear that the two of you were sneaking out of the school. Warren, you've been here not even a week-" He paused. "Do you really find the ground so dull you can't wait until Sunday?" 

Warren shook his head no. "I needed some things and... You knew about my attendance record when I came here." 

Charles stared at him. That as the wrong thing to say. The staring felt a bit invasive after a minute. 

Bobby finally spoke up. "It was my fault."

"No it wasn't!" Warren said, impulsively. 

"You are both confined to grounds. Bobby, you'll have stop your after school activities until I feel you have earned a place on the team again." 

"What, That's not fair!" Bobby said. Warren didn't know he was in any kind of after-school programs. 

"You'll train with Logan three times a week until he feels you're ready. Warren, you'll be having special lessons with Ororo. You're both dismissed. Warren, I've been told you're confined to your room except for lessons and meals. If you wish to stop by a library on the way you may." Charles said. "If you would, I need to speak with Bobby." Warren nodded and stood. He didn't bother to stop by the library. 

He went to his room and pulled the sheets off the bed. He balled them up and stuffed them into a grocery bag. The garbage shoot was just twelve feet from the door. He dropped them in. He'd have to find some other way to do this. He wouldn't get away doing that for long. He crawled into bed. He'd been up late and had managed a full five hours of sleep. He had every intention of getting five or six more. He had nothing else going on.

 

\-----Dooodle Loodle dum dee dum-----------Dooodle Loodle dum dee dum-----------Dooodle Loodle dum dee dum-----------Dooodle Loodle dum dee dum------

 

The week went slowly. He attended classes and stayed in his room as he was told. Jean checked his leg Thursday and it was healed perfectly. He'd spent the whole week doing all his homework for the semester, since it was outlined in the syllabus and contemplating being here. It wasn't working for him. This wasn't what he wanted. Even though he had the time, and space and everything else, this wasn't working for him. He spent hour after hour sitting around preening but everything was wrong. They were never straight enough. They were never smooth enough. He pulled out any that he thought were too broken. He couldn't take care of himself. He was starting to feel mangy again, despite his efforts. He wasn't meeting anyone. He wasn't any better a person than he was before. Everyone else walked around here proudly. Literally, on the walls, the ceilings, flying, furry, through walls. But somehow he just wasn't feeling it. He still hated his mutation. There was nothing good about it. It was a lot of work and no reward. Logan had disappeared after lunch on Tuesday. Then Professor X the morning after. No one knew where he was or they weren't forthcoming. All talk of flying had ceased. Everything about this was wrong. 

He'd fought with Bobby, who in turn decided he wouldn't talk to him until he apologized. It'd been a quiet two days. He was too stubborn to apologize and, besides, had forgotten what they were arguing about by the point Bobby had said that. 

The classes with Jean had been replaced with sewing classes with Ororo. They'd decided he needed to know how to alter his own clothes, since his future was completely full of altered clothes. He hadn't minded. He wasn't a natural, by far, but it was an easy alteration. 

Saturday rolled around for the second time. He'd been grounded for a week now. He had drug a chair to the balcony and was watching a ball game. All the upperclassmen were participating. He'd never been particularly sporty, but he would have killed someone to be out there with them. The game ended as the sun set and they all left the field. Warren went back to his bed. He pulled a book into his lap and his right wing around front. He read disinterestedly. The book wasn't all that good. It read like it was written by a random trope machine. He had to finish it though, better now than later. It was in the syllabus. His final report had to be on a book written by someone with a completely different perspective than himself. He considered himself a modern guy so he'd gone with some Jane Austin. An old-fashioned girl. But slogging through the book was like sinking in Oobleck and then trying to wade out. Slow. Tedious. Not fun. He read for an hour before falling asleep. 

He protested with a groan when he felt the bed dip. "Whadyou want?" he asked, stretching. He felt a cool hand on his shoulder. 

"Warren, are you alright?" Bobby. Always Bobby.

"Yeah. Neck's stiff." he realized he was sitting up, sleep sitting up. Lovely. His back would thank him in the morning.

"What happened?" He felt a hand on the bald skin on the inside of his wing. He froze. 

"Get off me." 

"Tell me what happened." Bobby said, not moving. 

"I can't get them straight. I can't... They're too big." he laughed a little. Not in a funny way. "I just can't handle them. I keep trying but it's never right."

Bobby pushed him on his left side and pulled his right wing open. "Warren, you've pulled out like... Half of them." 

"It's not that bad." Warren pushed him off the bed. 

"That's not right. I'm getting Jean." He said. 

Warren lunged at him and managed to pin him to the ground. "No. I don't want a lecture."

"So it is that bad?" Bobby argued.

"No."

"Then why would you be lectured?"

"I get lectured for everything around here." 

They stared at each other a moment. 

"Let me help then." 

"What could you possibly do?" Warren spit the words out.

"I don't know.... Listen... I can do that much. And I'm pretty clever. I am sure I am help somehow." he said. 

Warren looked at him. "I don't want anyone's help."

"Me or Jean." Bobby was frowning deeply. It was a look that was only rarely on his face. It looked unnatural. "Keep in mind, if it's Jean, the professor will know, and the entire staff." 

Warren glared at him. "Fine. You. But... on my terms." 

"Deal." Warren let Bobby up and reluctantly lent a hand. "So... Let me see?" Bobby asked. 

Warren stared at him before slowly opening his wings part way. Bobby proved not in the least bit shy. "This is really bad. You're about halfway bald on the bald side and about seventy percent over here. You realize, when the professor gets back, he'll know." 

"What, does he go around reading student's minds?" Warren had a sneaking suspicion he did, but had never asked.

"No, but you're not doing this because you're happy and like it here." 

"Let me go." Warren shut his wings again, laying back down on his bed. "I'm going to sleep." 

"Fine. Tomorrow I'll get one of the medpacks from downstairs and we can clean you up." 

"I'll be fine." 

"Whatever." 

The next morning came too quickly. He was felt the side of the bed dip again. "Bobby. It's like four in the morning."

"Ten. I let you sleep in since it's Sunday. I want to try to help. Let me?" The sincerity in his voice was almost painful.

"Whatever, do your magic." 

Bobby groaned a bit as Warren closed his eyes again. He rolled Warren on his back, coaxing the main joints apart so he could lay somewhat flat. He worked on the left side first. "This is going to sting, I think." he got dabbed a cotton ball covered in magma, acid, needles, and boiling water into the bald area. He had to hold the wing still as Warren tried to retract it.

"What the hell is that?"

"Alcohol. I figured... Well, you know... good first step is to always clean the area... I can't put a dressing on it, and it spends all day sort of closed up against your back." Warren had to give it to him, that wasn't bad logic. But surely there was something other than alcohol. "Are you going to tell me why?"

"I dunno. It's something to do?"

"That's not a reason." 

"It kinda is. I'm bored. I'm trapped in this stupid room." Warren felt the previously invisible need to rant grow in his chest. "I can't fly, I probably never will. And right now, after being in here for days.... I've never wanted to more. But no. I can't get the feathers straight. I can't even clean them properly. Did you know that? Those stupid yardstick-sponges in the bathroom? I can't clean my stupid wings properly because they're too big. I can't reach most the back. I can do this part-" he grabbed a handful of the remaining feathers on the inside "But the rest?"

Bobby pried his hand off his wing. "Then let me help." Bobby said. His tone was soothing. He didn't seem bothered at all.

"I'm not a child." he said. "I'll figure out some way..." 

"I don't think it's childish. You basically have two people stuck on your back. No one in the world would expect you to touch... their toes." Bobby had fumbled halfway through realizing the metaphor wasn't working. "Just tell me what you need done and I'll do it. I won't tell anyone. And I'll help you find some way to do it yourself." It was really hard to refuse Bobby. He meant well. He really did. 

"It's really stupid. And gross. You don't even know how much work this mutation is." 

"Can't be worse then Hanks's... work wise, I mean." 

"I wouldn't know." 

"The guy's covered with fur. And he has a full human beard. He trims it to be the same length as his fur. If you join any of the sports ever, you'll see him doing it in the locker room. Says the light is better there." 

"Good for him." 

"God... I'm just trying to say... It's not weird here. It's only weird because you're making it weird. If you just said what you needed help with, it wouldn't be weird." Bobby was obviously frustrated. He dabbed with the cotton ball a bit harder. They sat in silence for entirely too long. He had moved from the large bald patches to the some of the smaller ones that were peppered through the white feathers.

Warren looked away. "So remember the oil I bought?" 

"Yeah." Bobby said, keeping his face neutral and his eyes trained to the task. 

"Most... birds... they sort of keep their feathers lightly oiled as waterproofing. I can't reach to do that. I mean, I can get clean, but I can't do that part. And now that I walk around with them free and move them and stuff... The feathers get dirty and crooked and itch some. I was worried I had mites for a while. I'm probably a great candidate for mites." He said, disgust evident. 

"And that's what's been bothering you?" Bobby finally looked at him. 

"That and the boredom, yeah." 

"That's nothing. I thought you were going to say something weird." 

Bobby kept up with his task in silence a few minute. He dabbed with the cotton ball and tentatively smoothed some of the feathers. He watched Warren's face where he laid. He looked at them and slowly dug his fingers in, pulling them straight. "Is this so bad?" He asked as he moved towards some of the larger ones at the bottom. 

"It's weird. I never, and I mean never, let anyone touch them..." 

"Logan has, and Jean. I'd say the last two weeks you've probably gotten used to it a little." 

Warren shrugged and tried to hold still. "It's weird, still. But you don't have to stop." he conceded. Bobby kept combing his fingers through them. 

"So what do you use? To treat them." 

"I tried the coconut. I mean, it was fine where I could put it on... It's in the cabinet..." Bobby got up quickly and ran to the bathroom. He came back with one of the last unmutilated sponges and the coconut oil. He got into his own bedside table. 

"Sit up. I'm going to put this down." He pulled a large blue pad out of the drawer. "I used to regularly soak my mattress. Had to use bedliners. Seriously. The professor described it as being I would draw all the moisture in the room to me while I slept and it'd thaw." He spread it out. "OK, back where you were."

"You realize being on my back is really uncomfortable?"

"Suck it up." Bobby sat back down after Warren laid. He pulled the wing a little over his lap. "Tell me if I'm using too much." He brought the sponge down and wiped it down the feathers. They laid flat. He turned the sponge over and wiped most of it off. 

"That's pretty much the jist of it." Warren said. Bobby nodded and did it again. He applied and removed, leaving just the smallest amount. He got to the larger feathers and handled each separately. 

"How often does this need done?"

"If I don't soak myself? Probably once a week?" 

"Cool. We can do it on Sundays. Nothing ever happens on Sundays anyway." 

"Just like that, you're going to surrender your Sundays?" Warren asked.

"Well, I really don't see this taking more than an hour once we get a system down." He said. 

Warren shrugged. "Well, don't let it get in the way of anything." 

"It's cool. You should have gotten paper towels. Hold still. I'll run to the kitchens and grab some." Warren laid still. Today had taken an unexpected turn for his life. He'd briefly entertained the idea of taking Jean up on her offer to help. But he'd rejected the notion. He was an adult. He had to do this himself. So he thought. Jean had been all waiting for him to come to her. She'd been talking and careful words. Bobby was just the right mix of action and talking. 

Warren shifted uncomfortably. The waiting wasn't fun. Bobby was gone ten minutes before he heard the door open again. "I snagged up a roll." he said, holding it up triumpantly. Warren nodded and let Bobby get back to what he'd been doing. He blotted each area he'd done. "I think we're ready for the other side... I mean the right side." 

They shifted positions. "This side's worse." He said. He frowned at the sight. "You know, these are really beautiful. I mean it. You shouldn't... you know." He gently cleaned the bald areas before moving onto the sponge. Warren found himself relaxing despite himself. Bobby was quiet for a good long time, he did the entire wing. Fingers combs through the feathers, searching out ones that were crooked. He straightened them gently, pulling apart any that were crossed or weird. On the longer ones he tried to pinch the individual pieces back together if they'd become separated, trying to make them whole again. That was a losing battle. 

"Ok. Back now." Warren rolled over obediently. He was wearing the sleep shirt he and Ororo had altered. The back was entirely open, since the zipper had proven uncomfortable for laying and had lead to the shirt twisting in his sleep. Warren much preferred when he could see Bobby. He felt the first hand at the joint of his wing, almost against his back. Then it was back into the developing routine. "Hey, calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you." Bobby said, placing his hand on Warren's neck. He realized he was breathing hard. Not knowing what Bobby might be doing. The hand on his neck stayed put, he felt the side of Bobby's face on his wing and his cool breath ghosting through the feathers. He suppressed a shudder. He closed his eyes and tried to tell himself Bobby meant well. He wasn't trying to make him uncomfortable and, in the long run, it was better for him to get used to this. Slowly his breathing evened out. "You ok?" 

"Yeah... We're good." Bobby went back to work. He was a bit more aggressive now, his touches less tentative. He wasn't hurting him, it was more like a very vigorous massage. Warren relaxed into it. Bobby worked from base to tip. 

"Ok, last side." He said cheerfully. Warren moved so they could stretch the last part out. It was then he realized he had a problem. At some point, he'd become very... excited. He laid back on his stomach, pinning his erection against the mattress. He wanted to groan both in horror and pleasure at this latest development. Bobby went back to work. He kept up the gentle but vigorous pace he'd set before. His fingertips brushed the skin under the feathers, which was way more sensitive than he ever realized. Warren held himself stone still. "You OK?" Bobby asked.

"Fine. I'm fine." He pressed his face into the mattress. 

"Let me know if I'm hurting you."

"You're not." Warren mumbled through the thick bedding. 

Bobby reached up and pulled Warren's long hair over his neck, exposing the side of his face. He felt those wicked fingers against his cheek and nape. "We're almost done." 

Warren shuddered and Bobby apologized for the cold he thought caused it. Warren tried not to shift. He was about to have a major problem if Bobby kept touching him. This was way too innocent a thing to get off to. And they were going to do this once a week. Bobby worked his way to the tip again. "This skin here." He felt fingers on the skin between his wings. "It's different." he felt the cold. "Do I need to do that too?" Warren felt the heat in his abdomen unwind as he came. 

He kept himself still and quiet for half a second. When he spoke his voice sounded desperate to his own ears. "Actually. Can you not touch that?" He paused and swallowed. "It... hurts..." He lied. 

Bobby's fingers quickly disappeared. "Sorry." 

Warren had himself under control again, but didn't get up. Bobby didn't seem to know about his dilemma. "It's fine." 

"Ok, well. That wasn't so bad right?" Bobby got on his knees beside the bed to look him in the eye. "I have a group project in half an hour, but I'll be back after that. No. Picking. I'll check." He threatened. Warren dropped his head to the bed but agreed. Bobby washed his hands, grabbed his bag, had one last look in the mirror and left. Warren stood up. He had some cleaning to do.


	11. Eleven

Warren got himself cleaned up. He used a warm washcloth, not wanting to mess up all the work that went into him by having a full bath. He got a new set of underwear and pants and put his at the bottom of his hamper. That was the customary place for pants he didn't want anyone to see. He redressed and went to the balcony. A few casual games of ball were going on. Some kids were playing frisbee... The frisbee was either one of the students, sentient, or someone was controlling it by some other means. It really could have been any of the three. Today had been quite the mix. He'd gone from tense and scared to reluctantly relaxed to mortified in two hours. He messed his fingers into his wing and pulled a few feathers out. Any tension in his body was immediately released. Those ones had been bothering him anyway. And others. He pulled four or five more and lined them up on the banister. He let the wind take them away and watched them float. A couple more. Relief every time he pulled one. 

Now that he was aware he was doing it, he felt a bit bad. He laced his fingers together and rested his wrists on the banister. He was able to keep that pose for a good ten minutes. 

Long enough for Bobby to come bounding in the door. "You're a free man!" He said, cheerfully. "I talked to Scott, told him you were going mad in here." 

Warren stared at him "Did you tell him-" 

"Only a little. I told him you were messing with your wings a lot and I printed some documents off the internet. Apparently, that's really normal behavior.... you know... for birds." Warren didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want to be thought of as a bird. "but before I let you go, I want to check and make sure you weren't... you know?" Bobby stepped closer. "Just a quick peek." He grabbed the heavy leading edge of one wing and gently coaxed it free of his back. 

"Warren" An exasperated sound.

"I know. I couldn't help it." he pulled it back. "I didn't do the other side." 

"Yeah well, that's the bad side. Why do you do the right side so much?" 

"I'm right handed?" 

"Ok, well... Just, try to stop. If you don't I'll make you wear mittens." 

Warren chuckled at the thought. "If I'm free, I'm going outside." 

"I got that!" Bobby made an ice slide from their balcony to the ground. "Go! Go! Go!" He pushed Warren towards it. They landed in the grass. 

A few students looked at them before returning to their games. Warren wanted to run or something. He just wanted to move. He didn't feel up to organized sports of any sort. He didn't know the rules and he wasn't fond of the idea someone else might touch him. Bobby had been humiliation enough for one day. "Let's just have a walk around the ground... And... you still haven't shown me where laundry is."

"Yeah, I would have if you hadn't gotten grounded. I can just do yours with mine again." He said. 

"I'm a big boy. I can do my own laundry." Warren said. He was not letting Bobby anywhere near his clothes. 

"You're not as stubborn as you want people to think. I think you like it when people help you." Bobby said. They were walking through Ororo's garden now. It was expertly kept with a small reflecting pool in the middle.

Warren didn't answer. They walked quietly through before heading near the pool.

"You could swim you know. I mean, once you get better. Right now might not be a good idea." 

"I don't sink. I think it's the wings." He said, shrugging them a little. Bobby looked at them a moment before tucking a few feathers that shifted out of place back to where they belonged. 

"Well, you're free to float if you ever feel like it" Bobby chuckled. "No one will care." 

"I can't swim anyway. I never took lessons... for obvious reasons." 

"Well it's a good thing you float then. But... Now that you've said that when you get in the pool we have to bring a registered lifeguard on duty."

"You're kidding." Warren groaned.

"Yeah. You'll be fine." Bobby patted him on the shoulder and have him a little shake. "Loosen up. You're always so tense. Ever since we did our little jail break." 

They went around the far back of the building. Scott was shooting clay pigeons with his beams. The ground was littered with them. Bobby made an ice ball and tossed it among the pigeons. Scott got it, and the next four. "Watch this." Bobby said, making ten small balls. He tossed them in two groups as high as he could into the field. 

"Ok, Iceman, bring it." Scott said, he got all ten. Bobby put his arms out and they started forming in mid air in the targeting zone, no more than three inches wide each. Scott blasted them as they appeared. 

Bobby finally had to sit down. He wore himself out. Scott fiddled with his visor and walked to them. Warren took a step back, under the guise of making sure Bobby was alright. 

"Not bad, Bobby." Scott said. "That was pretty impressive." 

"I was... You're the one who vaporized them all." Bobby said. He was breathing hard. 

Scott looked hard at Warren. "Ready to get back to work, now that you're free?" 

"If you mean... flying-" he started reluctantly. "I'm waiting for Logan to come back... He, as much as I hate to say it, seemed to have some idea what to do." 

"You can't really wait for him. He didn't give us a time he'd be back. He just left." 

"Bobby said he still had his room..."

"Yeah, we've kept his room for nine months between visits before. He's a busy guy." Scott said somewhat bitterly. Did he resent Logan for coming and going? Did they not get along? He couldn't figure it. 

"Well. I'll think about trying again in a few days." Warren said. He shifted from foot to foot nervously. 

"Alright. I'll give you until next weekend. Then we'll go with Logan's original plan." Scott said. His jaw was set in that stern grimace. 

Warren took a deep breath. "Fine. Monday. If I haven't jumped off something by the Monday after tomorrow... you can throw me off anything you like." He tried to keep his tone measured but annoyed. 

Bobby had stood up and brushed himself off. "That was fun." He said after Scott left. "I always toss a couple at him if I catch him practicing."

"Do you get along with everyone here?" 

"More or less."

They walked a bit around the side of the building. Bobby explained that why the other three sides always had some kind of something happening, no one ever came to that last side. There was no particular reason for it... Just no one ever used it. A stiff wind blew past them. 

"So, it's going to be summer soon. How do you do with the heat?" Bobby looked over at the unexpected question.

"Better than most. I make cold. I spend half the summer surrounded by chicks." He said with a grin that threatened to swallow his face. "Sweaty chicks... You know. They've been playing summery games, trying to get away from the heat... Sometimes they want to get a tan."

"Popular with the ladies then? Any particular catch your eye?" Warren asked. He thought back to earlier when Bobby was doing his wings. If he got a girlfriend, how would she feel about that? It'd almost be wrong. Wouldn't it? 

"I'm not unpopular with the ladies. I have a girlfriend... kinda... How had you not picked that up?" 

Warren felt something in his chest drop. Whatever it was seemed to fall from his body. He ignored the question. "You're awful friendly with everyone. Doesn't she care?" 

"She likes me because I'm friendly." He said as though it were obvious.

They went back around the front of the building. 

They lounged on the stairs. A few students were coming back from off-campus. 

"So, why is she a kinda-girlfriend?"

"Well, in my head we're dating. Last time I talked to her I froze. Literally. Straight through. The Professor had to come and talk me down. You got an eye on anyone?" He asked. 

"Not sure anyone here's my type." 

"Well, the school's growing all the time. Seriously, we get three or four new students a month over the summer. We're up to a whole twenty-eight now plus staff and you and me. Usually a lot younger but occasionally our age. Jean, Scott and McCoy were like, the first three students. School's been open five years now. I've been here three." Bobby said. "Jean and Scott graduated two years ago and have stayed on full time as staff. I think I want to, too. He's offered. I mean, he leaves the offer open to anyone." 

"Really?"

"Yeah. After graduating he will either help a person settle back into the world. Or let them stay here or anything they want. There was one guy... All he wanted after four years here was a cabin in the wilderness where no one would bother him. The Professor got him a job as a deep woods rescue guy. For hikers and stuff. He gets a monthly stipend and saves people when they call him. He visited once, seemed happy. The Professor's a great guy. He's really resourceful. He just wants the best for everyone." Bobby was looking hard at him. It was like he wanted him to say something. 

"Yeah?" Warren wasn't getting whatever message he was trying to convey.

"That means you too. He wants to help."

"I don't need help. I'm not a kid." Warren said. It was his go-to.

The air around them dropped ten degrees as soon as the words left his mouth. "You don't get it do you?" Frost was starting to form on Bobby's neck and arms.

"I don't even know what I'm not getting." Warren said. 

Bobby stood up and marched inside. Warren followed, and even as he did, he knew he was making it worse. "Bobby, what am I not getting?"

"I don't know where you got this stupid idea that you have to go it alone. Why the hell would you even come here?" Warren opened his mouth to speak and found it full of snow. "Look. I get you're traumatized or whatever because you had to wear that stupid coat.... Or whatever. If you're not going to take advantage of everything that's here, you might as well not be here. Don't. Say. Anything." Bobby was entirely white now. Light showed through him just a bit and he crackled as he gesticulated wildly. "You're taking up a bed that someone else could use. Someone who would ask for help. I like you. You're a cool dude... but you're not going to get anywhere on your own. You tried." He was screaming

Bobby grabbed him by the shirt and picked him up. "Don't you get it?" he asked as he shook Warren with each word. Warren braced himself against Bobby's frozen arms. He kicked his legs and bashed him with his wings. He was pretty sure all he was doing was bruising himself. Bobby was solid. 

"What is going on here!" Bobby dropped him. Warren leapt up and straightened himself, backing against the wall. Jean ran past him and pushed Bobby back without so much as laying a hand on him.

"He's driving me insane."

Jean lead them both to her office. A small crowd had formed. Bobby didn't thaw. He stayed frozen straight through. 

"Ok. Bobby. Try to warm up and tell me what is bothering you."

Bobby spoke instantly, but his appearance didn't change. "He's just not making an effort to change. He's here for help, but he's making everyone come to him to help him." Warren watched as white eyelids closed over white eyes.

"How are you talking?" 

Bobby paused and looked at him a moment. He looked as though his brain had been derailed in that moment. "I.... don't know." He looked at Jean.

"We could run scans." She offered with a smile. "But until then, Warren, do you have anything to say?"

"Just. I've been handling this alone for years." he looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck a bit, trying to convince himself he wasn't doing this. "I literally don't have the words for it."

"Then make some up." Bobby interjected. 

"Bobby, let Warren speak." 

Bobby mumbled "That's what everyone else does."

"Look, when I was ten I was paying doctors off to say I had a spine condition to get out of gym class. I've moved schools seven times in as many years in as many countries. I've been lucky enough to have busy parents who stuck a lot of money in a bank account and let me take myself off thier hands. This is how I've gotten by. By not talking about it. I've been here two weeks and you all expect me to throw that to the wind?" He dug his fingers into his brow, he really wanted to be angry with them. It was hard to be angry in this situation. "And since I've never talked about it. I have no words for it. If I tried to say some of the things I think, I'd probably choke." 

"Well, I think it's as Bobby said. Use whatever language makes you comfortable. There are plenty of people in this school with gifts there were no words for until they started talking about it. But you have the whole of human language to work with. You can get the message across."

"So what do we do, Warren?" She asked after a long pause. "It's going to come down to you."

"I'll try harder." He shrugged. "I think, honestly, Bobby's been the biggest help... I can see why he's angry with me." Warren stared at the edge of the desk. It might as well have been the most interesting thing in the world, in that moment. "I'll try."


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are firmly into Mature territory with this chapter. Rating will definitely go up by the end.
> 
> Also, anyone reading can weigh in, do you want me to include some fun obscure mutants in this even if the timeline doesn't match perfectly? There are a couple I'd like to write but don't really warrant their own story for me.

Jean asked Warren to be on his way after a few gentle words. He stepped out and decided to wait for Bobby. He looked at his left wing. The leading edge was bruised, he could feel. He didn't lift the feathers to look. It was definitely bruised. Bobby stepped out. "I think... trying to get free I hurt myself more than you ever did." Warren said. "I guess you won." He chuckled a bit.

"Ha! That's what Jean wanted to talk to me about. I can't unfreeze myself... Well. Not until I get to our room."

"Why?"

"You cracked me. With your wing..." He said.

"That happens?"

"Not often. I'm pretty damn solid. You're stronger than you think. Anyway. I need to look in a mirror and mostly unfreeze. It'll be fine in a few hours... But until them Jean thinks unfreezing now would cause more damage than anything else." They started towards the room. "I guess I kinda ruined your day.... You finally get out of the room." 

"Let's go to the kitchen." Warren said. Bobby nodded and they headed that way. 

Bobby got some of his ice cream, ('Dragon fruit flavor. It's actually really terrible. Lots of added sugar'), and made Warren take a bowl. They ate in silence a while. Bobby stared into his ice cream as though it held the secrets of the universe. Slowly he started to thaw. Everything that thawed was soaked. He was dripping on the floor. He didn't shiver. He finished his ice cream and went for a dish towel. "Thawing the way I am... Well.. The water has to go somewhere. I am not so good at partial freezes yet." He moved the still frozen arm. It made a horrible cracking noise. "That doesn't hurt, in case you were wondering. I just crack as I move." 

"Can I see the crack I made?" Warren asked. It was his form of being bold.

Bobby gripped at his arm and pulled his frozen shirt away. It broke off. He tossed the icy fabric in the sink. He used the towel to rub any frost off. "Uh.. Right there." He pointed. His skin was a soft blue color. Warren lifted his hands cautiously. Bobby let him. He touched his forearm, rock hard and cold. It reminded him of that lake when he was 13. The boy's school and girl's school had had a 'social function' on it. 

Warren held him still and looked. "So what do you do? Just... put water in it and freeze that?" 

"I don't do anything. It happens on its own." he shrugged his free shoulder. "It really doesn't hurt." He paused a moment, staring at his shredded shirt. "Hey, have you weighed yourself since you got here?" He asked.

"No." 

"You should. To make that crack... Well, you're pretty strong."

"My chest's bigger. I did notice that."

"Locker room has scales." he said. "We should go. Come on." 

Bobby grabbed his arm and lead him downstairs. "I think there's measuring tape down there too. Scott's... well. He always works a bit harder when Logan's around. The locker room ends up filled with protein drinks and other stuff. Since Wo-ohgan left again... He'll probably even out."

"He's kind of high-strung then?"

"You have no idea. I think he really just wants to live up to everyone's expectations." They descended down the stairs and into a basement at the far end of the building. Sure enough there was a locker room. Seven lockers had locks. Bobby walked to the scale. "What'd you weigh coming in?"

"One-twenty."

"No wonder I could pick you up, jump on." Warren stepped on. The side clacked to the bottom. Bobby slid the sliders back and forth to get it perfect. "Congratuations, you've put on eleven pounds. In two weeks..." 

"That's a lot."

"Again, not so weird here. Something kind of universal about the mutations. Everyone seems to heal kinda fast and stuff about lower body fat, usually... Bulk up faster. Apparently it can't make me taller..." Bobby pouted a bit. "My dad's short too. I'll probably never be taller than this."

"Well you still picked me clear up off the ground." 

Bobby prodded him in the chest. "One-thirty one... You're still the size of a regular guy... I wonder how much of that is the wings." he said. 

Warren sat down on the bench. "Look. I am, actually, sorry... About everything." 

Bobby smiled. It was like the entire day had just disappeared. "You're fine. You're just a natural pain-in-the-ass." He said. He stoked Warren's wing gently. He shuddered. 

"Cold?" Warren shook his head. Bobby did it again. "I bet the cold thing... your cold thing. Where you don't get cold. Probably related to flying... It gets colder the higher up you go." 

"Yeah? Perhaps." Bobby's hands were massaging his neck now. "I swear these have grown. Like, they look longer... They're up here now." he traced an invisible line from the top of Warren's wing to the back of his head. The same way children measured against each other as they grew.

Warren stood up. The hands were too much. He grabbed the front of Bobby's shirt and pressed him into he locker. He kissed him. Bobby closed his eyes, Warren didn't. Bobby pushed back, his eyebrows going up as though he was surprising himself. 

They broke apart. "Whoa. What did I do to deserve that?" He said. 

"You wanted me to be direct with you." Warren replied. 

"You're a good kisser."

"You need practice." Warren smirked. He'd had plenty of practice. Not all the schools had been segregated. 

"I'm... guessing you'd be willing to show me the ropes?" That sounded like any invitation Warren had ever heard.

"Maybe not here." He said. 

"Back to the room then?" They both grinned. It was a race back to the room.

Warren stopped just short of the door. They were matched for speed. Bobby made it to the room first and Warren tackled him onto the bed. He landed on his back with Warren over him. Bobby rested his unfrozen hand on his thigh.. 

"I thought we were still at kissing." Bobby said

Warren blushed a little. "We are." He pulled Bobby up. "We can kiss all night. Well in to tomorrow, in fact. Who needs classes." 

They kissed again, this time a bit longer. Warren got Bobby's lower lip between his teeth and gave it a tug. 

"Ok." Bobby said, pushing him off abruptly. "I can't have you there." he paused "On me like that."

"Oh really?" 

"Shut up. I'm a seventeen year old guy. I get a little horny doing homework." Bobby tried to brush it off. Warren got the message. He wasn't ready yet. Warren wasn't even sure he was. He was sure he'd be jacking off a lot tonight.

He thanked his fondness of business casual for his not being in pain at the moment.

Warren kissed him again. "Well, let's make this a regular thing."

"I can live with that." 

Warren laid on his side on Bobby's bed. Head propped up on his hand. Bobby was looking at him. "Ok, the staring is too much." Bobby said. "We should do something. You're a free man. We could do any-" he paused and got a funny look of concentration on his face. As though he were trying to make out a conversation across a crowded room. "The professor wants to see me. He's back. He... said I won't be long." Bobby blushed a little and stood. 

Warren caught his arm before he could retreat. "He said 'Just for a moment, then I will let you and Warren alone.'" Bobby repeated in his best impersonation of The Professor's distinctive voice. 

"Great." Warren said. "Want me to come along?"

"No. It's not about us... Private other stuff." Bobby said as he made to leave the room. He paused where Warren stood before pecking him nervously on the cheek and running off with a smile. Warren laid down on his own bed. Well, he hadn't expected today to be like this. 

He had to smile to himself though. He wondered if Bobby was some kind of evil mastermind. He'd set this all up. What with his touching and being so near all the time. He'd never really observed Bobby around others. Well, that wasn't true. Now that he thought about it, he'd watched Bobby quite a lot in public. But he'd always been focused on Bobby, not anyone around him. Great. He had a crush. A fixation. The kissing was good though. No problem seeing where it could go. 

He hadn't dated before. He'd kissed plenty of people. Guys and girls. He was a good kisser for a reason. But for other reasons, he'd never let anything go past that. Well, there was that one girl who got her shirt off. That image had stayed with him a LONG time. 

Bobby was gone for a while longer than it sounded like he would be. Warren started altering a few more shirts. He had seven shirts now. Six more and he'd be done with all his shirts. Two had been mangled beyond salvaging and were now filler for the shirt that remained. He went into the bathroom, if he was going to have the room to himself for a while...

He stripped down and got in the tub, putting his wings over the edge. He was trying to keep them dry since they'd just been fixed. He filled the tub to his naval and relaxed a moment. It'd be nice to float. There was a lot of room in here. He thought about Bobby and that promise he had with himself to oil wrestle a hottie in this tub someday. He imagined it. Bobby's cool skin against his. Slick. Sliding. The two of them falling in a pile in the tub because it was too slick to get out of. Naked. He sighed. That was all it took to get him going. He put his hand around his cock and slowly started to slide it up and down. He slid the foreskin over the head of his cock, small groans escaping his lips. He readjusted himself. His wings were holding him up, hooked over the side of the tub. He couldn't help his breathing speeding up. He quickened his pace thinking about Bobby's cold skin against him. He considered being in him. The other way. Both excited him. He let his other hand make its way to his balls. He gave them a firm squeeze, just enough to hurt a little. He wondered, briefly, if Bobby would ever hurt him. A private kink. Imagining it though. His body twisted in the water. 

His wings fluttered a bit as he came. He bit his lip hard and held his breath a moment. He slowed to a stop over a few second. He was never going to be able to look at Bobby again if this didn't go well.


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pointless cuddling (Not entirely pointless. Something comes of it eventually)

Warren's bath was interrupted by frantic knocking. He'd heard Bobby going through drawers and thumping about their closet immediately before. He pulled himself from the water and put a towel around his waist. He unlocked the door and Bobby came busting in. "Sorry I just need to look under the sink." he was on his hands and knees pulling everything out. Right to the very back of the cabinet. When he didn't find what he wanted, he looked around. He spotted the closet beside the toilet "Why would I put it in there, I don't use this." he opened it up and pulled out all kinds of things. It looked as though he'd been caught unaware for a room inspection and shoved the entire contents of a bathroom in there. Finally after a few moments he pulled out a thin white belt and pulled it on with a sigh.

"Really stylish there, Bobby. Rethinking the whole kissing you thing." 

Bobby looked up with surprise for a moment. "Oh, harhar. It's a power supressor. I didn't even notice."

"What?"

"Last few days I've been getting colder and colder. My control's been slipping. I wore this last year to help me get a handle on it."

"So you're sick?" 

"No. It's you stupid. That's why I pushed you off earlier. I felt myself freezing." He said with a blush. "The professor felt it too... kind of a spike... That's part of the reason he called me down so abruptly. I'll wear this a few days, and get it under control. Not-kissing would be counterproductive." 

"I can work with that." Warren pecked him on the lips. "I need to get dressed though. It's almost dinner time." Bobby nodded, a bit stunned. 

"Oh. Um. They're having a special movie night. New releases. There's two movies showing in a row..." He shifted between his feet. "I thought we could make it a date? It'll be good... I mean, there will be others there and we'll be able to get a bit close but-"

"It sounds great." 

Bobby relaxed a bit. "Great well.. I suggest pajamas. We'll be laying on the floor." Warren walked to the room. He picked a loose shirt and his comfortable pants, but he decided against going around in pajamas. Bobby had no qualms with wearing his fleece pajamas out. Warren suspected they were specifically for this occasion. 

They went to dinner and ate. Bobby drug it out as usual. He had his finger in every pie, as far as conversation went. Warren stayed quiet but Bobby found every opportunity to include him. He watched his work the table and startled every time he heard Bobby say. "Right, Warren?" He nodded along, having no idea what part of the conversation they were on. 

Bobby ate slowly, they were announcing that movies were to start in ten minutes when he finished. "Let's go set up." Bobby said. They walked down a hall he hadn't gone down before. He assumed it was a service hall. It was narrow and had only a few doors, he knew none of them were classrooms. Bobby got into one of them and passed Warren two blankets. He loaded himself up with four pillows. "This door." he went in another. It was a large auditorium. The chairs had been brought to line the edge of the room. They found a place in the back.

Bobby dropped the pillows and summoned up some ice. He made a long flat bench, then made a slight ramp on the part facing the wall the image was projected on. He laid one blanket down on it and then the pillows. "There's a rule at these things, if we cover up with the blanket, hands have to be outside the covers." Warren laid down on his stomach. He adjusted a pillow under his chest and got comfortable. Bobby put one beside Warren and tucked them under the covers. Jean gave them a look from where she was working the projector. Bobby showed his hands and she grinned. Warren's were wrapped around the pillow. 

The lights went down and the movie started. The ramp was perfectly built for laying on and Bobby kept it frozen solid. He felt Bobby move closer every time he shifted. Warren shrugged the blanket off. "Too warm." Bobby removed it entirely. That gave Bobby the opening he needed. He put an arm around Warren's waist and shifted just a bit of his body under Warren's wing. Warren chuckled and covered him with it a little. The bad, ugly side was down so his only concern was that Bobby might think the damaged part was gross. Bobby smiled at him and rested his head against his shoulder. It wasn't long before he was snoring softly. 

Warren watched the rest of the movie. It was a high-speed car movie, not the most original but well done anyway. Bobby shifted against his side. He was cool, but not as cold as before, where their skin touched. 

The movie ended and the light came on. Bobby woke with a start and Warren pulled his wing back. "I thought we were here to watch the movie." Warren teased.

"Yeah well, you're warm and have a built in heated blanket."

"I thought you liked the cold." 

"Not so much with the belt. I crave a little warmth sometimes." They were still laying close, but apparently no one cared. Warren had half expected someone to tell them to separate. 

"Is this the part where I get offended and accuse you of only liking me for my warmth?" Bobby laughed at the idea.

"It's this damn belt. I liked you before I wore the belt." 

"Want to stay for the next one?" Warren asked, wary that he fell asleep in the first one.

"Are you kidding me? Next one's B-Horror. Of course I'm staying." He said. Warren got up long enough to stretch his legs and grab them each a can of soda. He realized he had no idea which Bobby drank, so he grabbed to different things. Bobby would take his favorite of them and Warren would have the other. They got back on their platform and propped their elbows under their chests so they could see and possibly stay awake. At some point after the movie started, Warren realized he wouldn't be able to hold the position all movie. He settled for laying down and resting his chin on the pillow as he had before. Bobby soon followed and found himself under a wing again, this time up much closer. He'd all but crawled onto Warren. He was tucked under his left wing with one arm hooked around base. He buried his face into the feathers and fell asleep a second time. Warren shook his head a bit when he heard the snoring. 

Jean caught his eye and smiled at them. He blushed a little and focused on the movie. Bobby was a bit baffling. He was sit and sprint. He was relieved Bobby hadn't pushed him off because he'd crossed a line. But he was content to let Bobby set the pace from there. Warren was ready for anything, if Bobby was willing to say what he wanted and when, things would be easy between them. He startled at a jump scene and woke Bobby. 

Bobby shifted a bit so he could watch but it wasn't long before he found hands on his wing, smoothing down the feathers and gently cooling the raw spaces. Before long he was on his back with the wing pulled open in front of him. He wasn't watching the movie at all. 

Bobby seemed to like that Warren was mostly ignoring him. His hands were all over his wing, and then slowly made their way to the back of his shirt, his side. He undid the zip on Warren's shirt and opened the back up. Warren wondered what was going on. Bobby's finger traced along the edge of where his skin took on a different texture. That area that had been so sensitive. It still was. Warren tried to ignore him. 

"What are you doing?" he asked softly. He looked around as best he could.

"Trying to figure out why your skin changes here. You said it hurts?"

"Well, not quite." Warren said with a bit of a blush. "Just... don't touch it. It's kind of disgusting." 

Bobby looked at him earnestly for a bit. "You're not disgusting." 

"This isn't the place to talk about this. Just, please, don't." Warren put an arm around Bobby and pulled him close, trying to refocus his attention. Bobby let it drop for now, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before they discussed it. Bobby fell asleep against him for a third time just as the movie was getting to it's finale. Warren tried not to startle too much. He'd always had twitchy nerves. The movie ended and Warren woke Bobby.

"We have to clean up. How do we move the ice?" he asked. Bobby looked at it, he clearly hadn't thought that through when he made it. 

They folded the blanket and put the pillows away. Bobby iced up and grabbed the platform. He maneuvered it with Warren's help out the door, down the hall and they put it on the lawn. "There... I guess I won't do that again." He laughed. 

They went back to their room. "Class in the morning."

"Yeah. Do you really think you're gross?" 

"Do we have to do this now?" Warren asked. He didn't want to get into it. 

"No. I just want you to know you're not." Bobby said. "I actually really like everything about you." 

Warren just nodded. "I'll try to remember that." 

"You'd better." Bobby smiled at him before stretching. "Ok, seriously, bedtime." 

Warren changed into his sleep clothes, not bothering to retreat to the bathroom. He'd let Bobby look if he wanted. He settled into bed, wondering if he should invite Bobby. He'd seemed to like sleeping beside him before. Warren rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one arm. "If you get cold, there's room for two over here"

"I might take you up on that." Bobby said. "Would that be weird?"

"Weirder than you snuggling up into my wing in the middle of a room full of our peers during a movie?"

"Did that bother you?"

"No. I was just saying." He pulled the covers back. "I promise to keep my hands mostly to myself." 

Bobby didn't hesitate. He slid under the covers and laid on his stomach. Warren followed suit, covering most of Bobby with his body. "Too close?"

"Mm. No. This damn belt. You're like a furnace." 

"Good." Warren shifted a bit to get comfortable, angled his hips so he wouldn't embarrass himself, and fell asleep.


	14. Fourteen

Bobby was up early as usual, dragging Warren into the land of the living with him. Bobby stood and stretched. He was dressed before Warren got done turning over in protest.

Warren wasn't awake enough to deal with this morning thing. He got up and sorted himself out. Bobby stood behind him while he cleaned his face and brushed his hair. He ran his fingers gently through his wings, straightening out what sleeping had messed up. Bobby caught sight of something in the mirror that excited him. He came around Warren's front. 

"You heal quickly. Look." He said, touching the previously bald spaces on his wing. New feathers were already emerging and the raw pink had been covered with just a dusting of white. "That's good. I mean, you only have until next Monday and everyone's gonna see." 

"I am hoping to have as few people there as possible." Warren said.

"Not going to happen. Do you listen at all? Everyone wants to see. I get asked about it all the time."

"Only staff asks me about it." Warren said, looking hard at Bobby.

"Well, you've got a reputation..."

"What kind of reputation?"

"You're quiet. People think you're unfriendly... Not that you've done anything mean or been standoffish. Just, most people come here ready to blab in an instant. Show off. I haven't been blabbing either. I just tell them you'll do it when you're ready." 

Warren could feel frustration building up in his chest. He turned away from Bobby and pinched the bridge of his nose to try to relax. Everyone was so nosy here. Bobby was alright. He went about everything like he did it every day. He acted on his impulses and didn't think about it until after. It worked between them. Even in that moment Bobby was doing his thing. He stepped up behind Warren and put his arms around him. "Hey, It's not like that." He settled himself in the center of Warren's back. "Look at it this way, once you do it, no one will care anymore. Like... ten percent of everyone here can fly. Just usually... not with wings." Bobby's face was against the back of his neck. He could feel his lips moving and it wasn't doing him any favors. 

"I don't know how you do that." Warren said, putting his hands over Bobby's where they were balled into fists on his stomach. "OK. I have to get ready. Strength training is in fifteen minutes. They actually check in sometimes to make sure I'm doing it."

Bobby let him go and took a step back. "Dude... You're sweaty or something." Bobby picked at his shirt. Warren turned around in horror. Bobby's shirt was ruined. He reached for the buttons and started undoing it.

"I'm so sorry." he said as he quickly pulled the buttons clear off in his haste. 

"What. Hey! My-" Bobby stepped back. He removed the shirt and looked at it. "What is it?"

Warren deadpanned at him. He still hadn't wrapped his mind around this bit. "Oil... gland." he hated the word. It just sounded bad. Like moist. "It doesn't happen unless you... press kind of hard. I guess. I actually can't reach or see... Probably ruined your shirt... forever." 

"You're rich. Buy me a new one." Bobby grabbed his shoulder. "Turn around. Let me look."

"Bobby, no. I have... first period. I'm getting dressed." 

"I'm already your personal wing-care technician, just turn around." Warren turned around obediently and covered his face with his hands. "So it hurts?" Bobby said, obviously remembering the day before.

"No. It's just sensitive."

"I'll be careful." Bobby lightly touched his back.

Warren gasped, then chuckled. "Ok, Rule... Firm touches. None of that ghosting your fingers over it shit." He said. 

It took Bobby a moment but he laughed when he figured it out. "Some rules are meant to be broken." 

"Not during first period." 

"Alright. Well." Bobby pressed his hand firmly onto Warren's back. "Yup. It's exactly what you said. You're going to save a fortune over your lifetime." He felt Bobby wipe his hand off on his wing. "That's where it goes anyway." He smoothed it out. 

"I told you, gross." Warren said.

"Eh. Shut up. I'm sick of hearing you say that. How about I tell you when I find something gross?" Bobby sounded irritable about it. 

Warren nodded. "I should go out and do my exercises. Period's half over by now, probably." 

"Shit." Bobby said, grabbing his things and a fresh shirt. He grabbed Warren for a quick kiss before running out of the room. 

Warren did his exercises in the garden. He'd found the stone benches and statues were useful as resistance, and the place was gorgeous. He spent most of both periods doing his workouts. He had come to enjoy the quiet mornings spent alone. He was able to reflect on things and weekends almost felt lacking for not having this time. Today his thoughts were dominated by Bobby. Bobby embodied everything this school was about. He said he'd been here a while. He'd seen people come and go. Likely all kinds of people. He was thoughtful and accepting, but not a push over by any means.... He'd demonstrated that. Warren smiled every time he thought about Bobby. 

He thought about what Bobby said, about his being perceived as unfriendly. He'd try to change that. He really wasn't. He'd always been considered somewhat charming at his other schools. He was just feeling a bit exposed and had clammed up. He could fix it. He realized he knew very little about the students in his class. And the numbers had been thinning with people returning home for the summer. Twenty Eight now. He tried to bring them to mind. Bobby, there were his three fan girls who had never spoken to him, but they were really too young to befriend. David, who had run by him on the ceiling early on, also a little kid... and the friend who'd called after him. His class had six other than himself. He worked on his plank while he tried to bring each to mind. He spent most of his classes day dreaming or staring at his book. Kitty. That quiet guy that never really caught his notice, always wore that leather coat. Bobby. Had he said Bobby? Probably. He tried to concentrate. It was no wonder people thought he was a bad person. He had completely ignored his entire class. And it was only six people. Three of them were just the backs of heads in his mind. 

He sighed to himself as he went to get ready for third period and promised he'd learn everyone's names today. He returned to their room to clean himself off and rushed to class. He was the last to arrive, but was surprisingly on time. He stood near the door looking at the students. Bobby was at the center of it all, making ice animals. Kitty was next to him. She was laughing and nudging a girl he had seen but never really spoken to. He remembered now, Rogue. A guy sat next to her, his gaze down. He was completely silent. The lower half of his face and his entire neck was covered with a perfectly-matched flesh colored spandex. Piotr- He remembered him as soon as he saw him. Big guy. 

"Hey, Angelcakes!" Bobby called once he noticed Warren standing there. "Have a seat. Teacher's going to be a bit late." Bobby pulled a spare chair up beside him. Warren entered and sat down. He still didn't recognize the spandex guy or the girl from the movies. 

"Where was I?" Bobby picked up. He pointed to spandex guy who didn't make a sound. "That's right." Bobby said as if reminded. "So, I'm thinking about visiting my parents this summer. I haven't the past summers but..." he paused "The professor things I'm under control enough... and they said I could. I mean... They've been all nervous before because... Well.. But I think we've decided on two weeks at the beginning of the summer." 

There were congratulations around the circle. They'd only briefly talked about Bobby's family since rooming. Only that he'd come here and hadn't been back and that there'd been some kind of mess. Bobby wrote them every Wednesday. 

When everyone died down, Kitty started speaking. "So, like, I've been trying heavier weights with the phasing." her hands moved expressively as she spoke. "Took a seventy pound jacket with me through a six inch wall. Four times in a row. No catching." 

"When are you taking a person?"

"Couple weeks... I don't want to get anyone, like, stuck in a wall. But I've been going through flawlessly." She laced her fingers together in the air before resting them in her lap daintily. A waif-like thing like her would have the ability to go through things. The spandex guy looked at the group. Bobby stared at him with an intensity Warren was only too familiar with. Finally he wrote something on a piece of paper. 

"I'm working on it." Bobby read from the paper. He looked up. "Well, give it a go." 

The guy tilted his head side to side, as though reluctant. 

"Come on... It can't be worse than last time." Rogue finally said in her drawl. That was familiar. 

Warren heard a sigh in his head and they all jumped. It went quiet. 

"Nope. It's ok." Bobby said for all of them. He had one eye closed. "Kinda like being dropped in ice water." 

"I've been working with Professor X... To soften it." A British voice said in his head.

"Yeah, last time it was like we got stabbed." Bobby turned to Warren. "Class had to be cancelled. This is an order of magnitude better. What about," he turned back to the spandex guy. "you know, the lightning bolts." 

"Working on it." He touched the spandex but didn't shift it. He ran his hands over his jaw and the entire structure deformed. Warren was curious now. "So, are you joining our group now?" Warren knew it was directed at him

"I mean, I should... I've been quiet the last few weeks. Bobby said everyone thinks I'm rude." Warren said. "I didn't mean to come across that way. I realized he was right.. I've been here a long time now and know nothing about any of you. So, she goes through walls... And Bobby freezes stuff. What about the rest of you?"

Rogue spoke first. "I steal other mutant's powers when I touch them." she held her hand up and tugged at the hem of her glove. 

"I turn into metal." Piotr said in his thick accent. He demonstrated easily. "I'm bullet proof." He tapped his own chest. A pure metallic sound.

"I'm a psionic energy furnace." The voice in his head said. "I don't exactly know what that means either. Oh, and I can project thought. I can't read minds or do anything useful though."

Bobby, ever positive, turned to face him "We can hear and understand you. That's useful."

"People could hear and understand me back when I had a face too." The voice was full of a bitterness that no amount of sarcasm could hide. He turned to face the board and away from the group. 

Warren wanted to ask. So bad. But the kid was right there. Bobby leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder "Jono, you're going to be fine here. Believe me. I've been there." The words had barely left his mouth when a bright yellow flame whipped around from Jono's front at Bobby and made him jump. "Fair enough." he said.

Jono stood up and left the room, nearly running into Jean as she came in. She didn't stop him. "Sorry, I'm late. Should I follow him?" she asked.

Rogue spoke first this time. "Nah. The usual. His face. Bobby's cloying positivity." 

Jean nodded and began the lesson. They seemed to all understand that meant a certain course of action. Classes continued to lunch. And then after. He tried hard to notice who he had which class with. The roster was small, but it did change some. He took notes on the fellow students, more than the lessons. Bobby was right. Everyone, except Jono, talked about themselves quite a lot. Bobby was regularly handed bottled waters and other drinks. He cooled them and handed them back each time. He didn't even look up sometimes. Most the students were equally liberal with their powers. Kitty walked right through people in the hall, and mostly they let her. She took shortcuts where ever she could. Other students did everything from walk exclusively on the ceiling to shrinking their school supplies down and stick them in their pocket for later. Warren was left to his own devices for the evening. Bobby and some of the others had extra curricular. 

He needed to sort if he was staying for the summer. Bobby was visiting his folks. Warren hadn't been home in years. He spent his summers and vacation at their various vacation homes. He almost wanted to stay here, knowing so many people would also be staying. He felt a bit of a fool joining the school so late in the year. 

In a month it'd be summer. Staying here would mean... assuming he had any success at all, flying. He had the strangest mixture of wanting to do that, and wanting to never do that. He felt as though he'd love it once he had, but that wasn't now. Now the idea of flying, of possibly going anywhere. Being in the sky, as big as it was. Falling? He'd already fallen once and that had been pretty painful. How far could he go? How long could he fly. Would it be tiring? Would it be like running? He was decent at running. He briefly imagined getting sucked up in a plane engine. How unlikely was that? He was stating to worry about what might as well have been nothing. 

He got a bath and settled into bed. He had some required reading he hadn't done. Bobby joined him sometime after it got dark. His hair was wet and he smelled of soap. He came in and laid right down beside him. "Hey there." 

"Hi." Warren said. 

"You look cute when you're concentrating." 

"If I don't focus this book will put me to sleep." 

Bobby kissed him. "It's not due until the end of the year." Warren found he'd lost all interest in his grades when Bobby pulled Warren on top of him. 

They didn't come up for air until Bobby's shirt was pooled around his neck. Bobby was tugging at Warren's with much less success. "Get naked" Bobby said.

It actually made Warren pause. That was quick. He wasn't about to complain. He watched as Bobby wiggled out of his clothes without standing. He kept the belt on. He kicked the clothes off the end of the bed. Warren pulled his boxers off. Bobby went wide eyed. Warren couldn't feel bad for his state. Bobby looked completely undone. His short hair was a mess. The white belt was loose around his hips and he was hard as the day is long. Warren slid onto the bed slowly, straddling but not touching Bobby. 

"You su-" Bobby put an arm around his neck and kissed him.

"How about you don't say another word?" Bobby was apparently sure. 

Warren lowered his body to the position it had been before. He couldn't help but gasp when their bodies touched. Bobby's skin was cool and his hands were everywhere. Warren was busy propping himself up on his elbows so he didn't crush the smaller man. He felt Bobby's hand make its way between them and stroke his own cock. The backs of his fingers ran along Warren's. After a few strokes he put his hand around both of them and Warren bucked his hips into it. He bit his lip, since Bobby told him not to speak.

"If you keep doing that, this won't last long." 

"Mm. Let go. I want to..." He pushed on Bobby's chest and slid down his body until he was face to cock with Bobby. "You're circumcised..." Warren said. He realized he has no idea how that changed the game.

"Yeah, I saw you're not."

"Born in Europe." 

"Mm. Well... more for me to play with." Bobby said, he'd propped himself up on his elbows to look at Warren. "You don't have to...."

"The hell I don't." Warren grinned at him. He didn't really know what he was doing, but he did know what he wanted Bobby to do to him; that would be his guiding star tonight. He ran a finger up Bobby's cock before wrapping his hand around it. He worked it with his hand slowly. Bobby's hips moved minutely. 

Warren watched Bobby, trying to build his confidence. Finally he leaned in and licked the head. Bobby didn't miss it and hummed a little. Warren took the head into his mouth and sucked, rubbing the shaft with his fingertips. The hum turned into a soft moan. Warren experimented with licking. The shaft. His balls. Back to the head. He delighted in every little sound of Bobby. 

"Warren. Gotta warn you." He took a deep breath. "If you keep that up..." 

"C'mon Bobby." he said. Bobby's breathing became light huffing and gasps when he came. His whole body went rigid and cooled. Warren's hand dripped with cum. He looked at it before wiping it on Bobby's stomach with the rest. 

"That's gross." Bobby said, angling his hips up so he could see his stomach without lifting his head. He finally stood and went to his bedside table. He had a box of tissue in the drawer. He wiped himself off. Warren laid on his side watching him as he walked back to the bed. "Lay back. My turn to... try something." He said. Warren piled his pillows up so he could lay on his back. It was comfortable enough with a little shifting. Bobby straddled his waist, resting his ass right on Warren's cock. He showed Warren a small packet. Sampler size. He tore it open with a grin and squirted it where they met. He started moving his hips, letting Warren's cock slide along his crack. Warren immediately started moving in turn. He put his hands on Bobby's hips and they found an inexpert tempo. 

"My god. You must work out. Your. Ass" Warren groaned out. Bobby ground down harder. "Harder." Bobby pressed his full weight down on Warren. Warren groaned and came on Bobby's crack. 

"So you really like my ass then?" 

"It's gorgeous" Warren experimentally brought one hand up to slap the side of it. Bobby yipped a little and chuckled in surprise. 

"We need a bath." 

"We... need to get some sleep tonight. That's what we need."


End file.
